
diss JXlZl<^ 

Book . r AC 



PKKSKNTEU BY 



■^ A 



NARRATIVE 



OF THE 



CAMPAIGN IN RUSSIA, 



DURING THE YEAR 



1813. 



BY 

SIR ROBERT KER PORTER* 



412 



TO WHICH IS ADDED, 

A NARRATIVE OF THE 
EVENTS WHICH FOLLOWED 

BUONAPAE-TE'S CAMPAIGN IN EUSSIA, 
TO THE PERIOD OF HIS DETHRONEMENT. 



BY WILLIAM DUNLAR 



HARTFORD : 

PUBLISHED BY ANDRUS AND STARR. 

PETER B. GLEASON AND CO. EEINTERS. 

1815. 



1\^'^\' 

^ ^%^ 



Oift ^ 

Mre. Anna. B«lle Karow 

DISTRICT OF NEW-YORK, ss- 

Bi: IT REMEMBERED, that on the thirteenth day of Septemher^ 
in the thirty-ninth year of the Independence of the United States of Amc" 
rica, George Sheldon & Co. of the said district, have deposited in this 
office the title of a hook, the right whereof they claim as proprietors, in 
the words following, to wit : 

" A Narrative of the Events which followed Buonaparte's Campaign 
in Russia to the period of his dethronement. By William Dunlap." 

In conformity to the act of the Congress of the United States, entitled 
" An act for the encouragement of learning, by securing the copies of 
maps, charts, and books to the authors and proprietors of such copies, 
during the times therein mentioned ;" and also to an act, entitled " An 
act, supplementary to an act, entitled an act for the encouragement of 
learning, by securing the copies of maps, charts, and books to the au- 
thors and proprietors of such copies, during the times therein mentioned, 
and extending the benefits thereof to the arts of designing, engraving., 
and etching historical and other prints.''^ 

THERON RUDD, 
Clerk of the District of New- York, 



CONTENTS, 



Page. 
French Preparations against the Russian Empire - - 9 
Russian Preparation to oppose the French - ... 9 
Napoleon on the Vistula - ^ - - -- -11 

Emperor Alexander at Wilna - - - - - -12 

Napoleon begins the War by crossing the Neimen - - - 14 
Situation of the French Army - - - - - -17 

Situation of the Russian Army - •■ * -» -18 
Prince Bragation's Movements - - * - - -19 
Russian Head-quarters at Drissa, - - - - - 21 

Address to the City of Moscow - v » .. - . 30 
Address to the Nation - - »• - - - -31 

Alexander's Visit to Moscow - - . - - - 34 
Address of the Holy Synod - » - -^--. - - 36 

Arming of the Russian People ----.. 40 

Barclay de Tolly at Vitepsk - 42 

Vigtenstein's Movements against Oudinot - - - - 49 

Bragation crosses the Berezina 63 

PlatofF's Movements 67 

Peace with Turkey - 59 

Admiral Tchitchagoff takes the Command of the army of the 

Danube - . „ 60 

Surrender of Kobrine to the Russians - - - - - 61 

Affair of Podubrie - - - - - - - - 64 

Essen at Riga --------68 

Peace with England -..--,.75 

Russian hatred of the French .-..-- 76 



*V CONTENTS. 

Page. 
iBattle of Gamzeleva -----..79 

Battle of Polotzk og 

Battle of Smolenzk -----.. .g-? 

Kapoleon enters Smolenzk 91 

The French pass the Dneiper gg 

Junction of the First and Second Russian Armies - - - 104 
Prince Koutousoff Commander-in-Chief - - - - 106 

Battle of Borodino - - . . . . _ -Ho 
Koutousoff made Field-Marshal - - - . . . 122 
Koutousoff passes through Moscow and takes a position on the 

Kalouga road - - - . .. -194 

Moscow entered bj the French -. , ,. -128 
Moscow in their Possession r - ^ , . - 135 

Buonaparte at the Barrier ■.---,.. 13Q 
Buonaparte's Entrance '----,.. 137 

Outrages on the Inhabitants I33 

Russian Position on the Kalouga Road 146 

Vinzingorode's Movements from Twer - - , . . 149 
Moscow surrounded bj Russian troops -r - . . . I49 
Buonaperte offers Peace - - - , . . - 162 
Distress of the French Troops ----.. 155 

Final Rejection of Buonaparte's proffered Terms of Peace - 168 

Request and Refusal of an Armistice I59 

Buonaparte retires to the Palace of Petrofskj - - - 160 

Orders issued for the Destruction of Moscow - - , . leo 
Buonaparte's Attempt to burn the Kremlin - - - - 168 
Vinzingorode victorious before Moscov/ - - . - 171 

Vinzingorode and Narishkin seized by the French - - -178 
lioviaskj saves the Kremlin - - - . . - 179 

Moscow recovered to Russia I79 

Essen's Advance to Mittau - - - - . - 186 

Movement on Polotzk 191 

General Steingel defeats Macdonald's Corps - ^ - - 193 
General St. Cjr wounded -----,. 194 
Capture of Polotzk - - -. . , . -196 
French defeated by Bragation and Buckovden, near Tourgovitch 200 

Pinsk abandoned by the Austrians 204 

Koutousoff's Account of the relative state of the Hostile Armies 209 



CONTENTS. V 

Page. 
French defeated by Dovochoff between Semlevo and Wiazraa - 211 

Battle of Wiazma - - - 216 

Murat defeated 217 

Buonaparte's dreadful situation after the battle of Wiazma - 220 
Buonaparte quits Moscow— his Head-quarters at Borosk - - 221 
The advanced-guard of Sebastiani entirely defeated by Prince 

Koudascheff 222 

Horrible state of the French Army 223 

Buonaparte forsakes the Army and flies to France - - - 225 
French defeated by Piatoff near the Monastery of Kolotsk - 226 

Platoff's description of the French Retreat ... - 229 
, Davoust, Ney, and Beauharnois, defeated by Miloradovitch - 231 
Sufferings of the French ------- 232 

The Russian Winter sets in ----- - 233 

Description of the Misery of the French Army . - - 234 
Piatoff pursues Beauharnois ------ 237 

Double Defeat of Beauharnois - - - - - - 238 

Letters of the Vice-Roy of Italy to the Prince of Neufchatel 239,240 
Mloradovitch defeats the French and occupies Dorogobouche - 244 
Augereau, with his whole Division, capitulates to Count Orloff- 

Denizoff 245 

Buonaparte establishes his Head-quurters at Smolenzk - - 246 
Inhuman Execution of the Patriot Engelliart - - - - 248 

Letter of Berthier to Davoust - 250 

Devastation of Smolenzk - - -- - - -251 

Davoust defeated near Krasnoy ------ 253 

Buonaparte's shameful Flight from the Field of Krasnoy - - 263 

Defeat of Ney -' - - 256 

The Remainder of the French Army capitulates - - - 257 
Steingel and Sassonoff having formed a junction, defeat the ene- 
my at Ouschatch ------- 260 

Vitepsk taken by the Russians - - - - - - 263 

Victor defeated by Vigtenstein — Colonel Tchernicheff joins Count 

Vigtenstein - - - - - - - - 266 

Victor and Oudinot prepare to evacuate the Russian Territory - 268 

Minsk taken by the Russians 269 

Buonaparte reaches Orcha - - - - - - 271 

Orcha evacuated by the French - - - , - - - 273 



Tl ■ CONTENTS. 

Page. 

Ney defeated by Platoff .274 

The Main Army of the Russians reaches Zezeringa - - -275 

Victor and his Army capitulate 278 

Battle of Lembisco 279 

Horrible state of the French after the Battle - - - - 279 

Buonaparte crosses the Berezina 280 

Oudinot killed — Buonaparte retreats to Pletchinichau - - 284 
Buonaparte deserts his Army - - - - ' - - 284 

Ruse de Guerre of Maret 286 

Buonaparte appoints Murat Lieutenant-General and Commander- 
in-chief of the Army — his final Departure from his Army 29 1 
Wilna occupied by the Russians - - - - - 292 
Proclamation of the Emperor of Russia . . _ . 299 
Notes --' 301 



CAMPAIGN IN RUSSIA. 



Ti 



HE late War between the Russian Empire 
and that of France, which closed in the peace of 
Tilsit, is too much alive in the recollection of Eu- 
rope to need a narration here of the particular 
events which led to its commencement, and accele- 
rated its conclusion. The necessity which compel- 
led the Emperor Alexander to make that Treaty, 
there is little doubt originated in the nonfulfilment 
of promises, made by powers in alliance with him, 
to give their support to a warfare which involved 
not more the safety of Russia than that of all the 
civilized world. Though an ally only, (on the de- 
struction of the Prussian force, and the decided 
apathetical tardiness of Austria,) he found himself, 
left to bear the whole weight of the contest as a 
principal. Though thus abandoned, and placed in 
a situation, to maintain which, it being unexpected^ 
he had not provided resources, he nevertheless re- 
ceded not a step ; but in the field and in the cabinet 
continued to assert, to the extremest point of his 
empire's existence, the liberty of Europe. It is 
well known from what passed between the courts of 
London and St. Petersburgh, how" anxiouis he was 
(in spite of disappointments) to retain the friendship 
of England, and her active co-operation in the 
Great Cause. At length the Russian Monarch's 
patience was exhausted; and on the 7th of July, 
1807, the Peace of Tilsit was signed. 



From the date of this event six years elapsed ; 
r.nd during the whole period the face of Europe 
never ceased being deluged with blood. Austria, 
who had neglected the past favourable moment to 
defend her rights, was at last aroused ; and be- 
came involved, and alone too, in a desperate and 
unsuccessful contest Avith Napoleon. Spain burst 
forth against the tyrant, with the spirit of her an- 
cestors. And England (however those at times in 
power may have committed political errors) con- 
tinued, in principle, true to the grand cause by 
feeding the flame in the peninsula ; and thus kept 
t?p that fire with which the far-spreading torch of 
the North now lights the rest of Europe to Eman- 
cipation and Peace. 

The negative kind of amity, a body without a 
soul, wiiich the Treaty of Tilsit established be- 
tween the Empires of Russia and France, (and 
which endured little more than four years) gave 
time and occasion to Alexander to be fully aware 
of the ultimate views of his Gallic friend ; Avffo 
lost not an opportunity of endeavouring by every 
species of intrigue to pave the way for an easy 
conquest over the arms and allegiance of the sub- 
jects of his august and honourable ally. 

The machinations of Napoleon have ever been 
as much against the principles, as the personal 
libeiiies of men. Former conquerors were content 
with subjecting nations by the pov/er of the sword. 
liis aim is a deeper destruction : he attacks the 
moral principle. He subdues, by seduction, from 
the rule of law, from the standard of conscience ; 
and having like the arch fiend, trammelled the souls 
of his captives, he hopes to keep them in perpet- 
ual, because desperate, slavery. I need not par- 
ticularize the objects in Russia, of this his system 
of mental vassalage : some few feil victims to his 
spells, but the many, the worthy of the name of 
Russians, remained impregnable to the most de- 
termined, most wiiv assaults of his art. 



The impatience of Napoleon to compel every 
state under his influence to adopt what he calls 
The Continental Si/stem, and which m.eans tiie ex- 
elusion of all commerce with England, excilinjj; 
him to extraordinary and imperative demands of 
Russia : the insolent declarations of his power to 
enforce obedience to his will, alarmed the indepen- 
dent spirit of the Emperor Alexander; and made 
him wisely prepare, in silence for a rupture which 
no flatteries of the tyrant, nor suggestions from the 
world's panic, could persuade him to com.promise. 

The Common Disturber of Europe soon learned 
from his agents in Russia, that it was their opinion 
the people was not to be corrupted ; and that his 
favourite System could not, by any method whatev- 
er, be forced upon the ruler of such a people. Napo- 
leon laughed at these preparations. A man without 
honour, believes the integrity of all others impugna- 
ble. He is a very Proteus in politics. Again and again 
every subtilty was tried, every temptation offered ; 
but Alexander frowned on the vain art, and re- 
pulsed it. 

Napoleon continued to dissemble and to in- 
trigue ; for the moment of unfolding his ultimate 
plans was not yet arrived; and with a semblance 
of the most ardent friendship, grasping at the most 
intimate bonds of connexion, he essayed to cajole 
the unsullied faith of the Emperor Alexander. 
Even while his serpent tongue wove this Machia- 
velian net, with hands more numerous than those 
of Briarieus, he was secretly preparing the means 
of subverting the Russian Empire, and establish- 
ing upon its ruins and those of Europe a dominion 
that would command the sovereignty of the world. 

Russia now saw clearly the impending storm ; 
and no exertion Vas neglected on her part, to pre- 
pare against its rage. Her troops, by degrees, 
spread themselves along her vast frontier ; and 
look up the best positions that the probable cir- 
cumstances of her situation could point out. A 

2 



10 

force of four hundred thousand strong, public re* 
port said, was then extended from the shares of the 
Baltic to the extremity of the Volhynia ; but as 
the casualties incident to a Russian armament are 
numerous, we cannot confidently rate this body 
of men, at the commencement of the campaign, at 
more than two hundred thousand effective sol- 
diers. 

While Alexander was silently drawing these lines 
of circumvallation around his frontiers ; lines of 
brave men, more impregnable than bulwarks of 
stone or iron ; Napoleon, conscious that it had 
never been his intention to fulfil his engagements in 
the Treaty of Tilsit, and perceiving that Russia 
was now aware of his premeditated breach of faith 
and determined future hostility, endeavoured, thro' 
the medium of his ambassadors at the Court of St. 
Petersburgh, to cast an insidious gloze on all that 
had passed ; and by misrepresentation, falsehood, 
and sophistry, to throw the blame of the approach- 
ing rupture upon the Northern Emperor. 

"Even in the third year (1810) of this hollow 
peace, France was seen to manifest serious designs 
of invading the Russian dominions. Napoleoa 
was compelled to understand that, in spite of bis 
menaces, Russia would have a commerce with Eng- 
land ; that she would not, in consenting to him 
as an ally, yield her own equal rights of maintain- 
ing her people, and replenishing her treasury, by 
those honest arts which give to peace a value be- 
yond that of mere personal security. He saw that 
ukases were repeatedly issued to encourage a com- 
merce with England : and more and more irritated 
by the steady policy of Alexander, he decided^ 
not only on the destruction of that prince, but 
on the annihilation of his empire. ^ 

Notwithstanding these sentiments of each other,, 
and the preparations which both were quietly mak- 
ing, the one to commit, and the other to resist vio- 
lence, diplomatic civilities passed between the two 



11 

courts. Alexander maintained a dignified silence ; 
and Napoleon, carefully masking his face when 
turned to Russia, was moving all his engines in 
other countries, to excite their armies to assist his 
in overvyhelming her with ruin. During the year 
1811, his agent at Constantinople, pursuant to this 
scheme, exerted every nerve to keep up a war 
against Russia on the side of Turkey. No alarm 
was left unsounded, no promises spared, which 
might persuade the Grand Seignior to believe that 
the boasted Genius of France was fated to be also 
the prophet and protector of the Ottoman Imperi- 
al line. 

The co-operation of Sweden was solicited by 
similar means. Provided she would engage to 
march a large army towards the Russian frontier 
on her side, while a French force should invade 
the empire on the quarters of Poland and Prussia, 
Napoleon proffered her, as an indemnification, all 
Finland, find vast accessions to her Pomeranian 
territories. 

Treaties of defensive alliance were concluded 
with Austria and Prussia. Dantzic was reinforc- 
ed, and provided with stores of all kinds. And 
the rest of the strong Prussian fortresses which, 
according to articles of the Treaty of Tilsit, ought 
to have been evacuated by the French troops, had, 
on the contrary, their garrisons considerably aug- 
mented. Columns of troops from France, as well 
as from the various states which comprised the 
Confederation of the Rhine, w^ere known to be on 
their march towards the Vistula. 

Such military preparations, together with the 
ratification of treaties of the most intimate allian- 
ces between France, Austria, and Prussia, left no 
doubt in the mind of the Emperor Alexander as 
to the object of their proceedings. He saw that 
the time was now come to take his station at the 
head of the army his precaution had so wisely pro- 



12 



vided ; and quitting his capital about the 22d of 
April, 1812, he arrived on the 26th at Wilna, 
where he established his head-quarters. 



The army of Napoleon was all in motion. The 
confederated Princes of Germany had sent their 
tributary powers ; and a reluctant remnant of 
about ten thousand Spaniards and Portuguese, had 
been pressed into the service. Not less than four 
hundred thousand men were ranged under the des- 
pot's standard ; and by the beginning of May, 
1812, the banks of the Vistula were overshadowed 
by his thronging legions. 

Napoleon left Paris in May, and found himself 
at the head of his grand army on the 16th of June. 
A finer or more complete force never was marshal- 
led by the destructive abilities of man. It posses- 
sed the elite, not only of the French nation, but 
that of all her confederates ; and to give efficiency 
to so formidable a strength, was commanded by 
the most celebrated captain of the age. 

This mighty array bad been a work of- delibera- 
tion. Its ambitious leader had long sought to 
make a vassal of liis imperial ally, or to push him to 
the extremity of a rufJture. Through the medium 
of Prince Koiuakin, Napoleon, while at Paris, 
had precipitated that . decision from St. Peters- 
burgh, which he looked for to give him an excuse 
for the meditated invasion. His demands were, 
that Russia must immediately adopt, Avithout any 
reservation, the continental system, to the exclu- 
sion and destruction of all commerce whatever with 
England. The style of this message, as well as 
its purport, was in a strain to oiFend the dignity as 
well as the just political views of the Emperor Al- 
exander ; but he treated it so far with forbearance 
^s to commission his ambassador at Paris, while 



13 

he refused a compliance to the extent required, t(y 
use every means consistent with the character of 
the Russian nation, to preserve the peace. 

The demand v/as repeated without any soften- 
ing terms ; and Alexander's reply was still in the 
same spirit. Much as he wished to maintain a 
friendship with France, nothing should induce him 
to attempt it at so dear a price, as compromising 
the ultimate good of his country, by the sacrifice 
of its commerce. To this resolution he added a 
protest against the French occupation of the 
Duchy of Oldenberg. This resolution, and this 
protest, were immediately construed by Napoleon 
into demands " arrogant and extraordinary !" and 
announced by him as equivalent to a declaration of 
war. Still, however, his hypocrisy was not satis- 
fied with the part it had already acted ; he must 
have another scene of fawning, yet insulting, over- 
tures of re-cementing an alliance which it was his 
own determined object to break. 

To this purpose he dispatched his aide-de-camp. 
General Narbonne, to Wilna, to know whether the 
Emperor Alexander would at last withdraw his 
extraordinary demands. The General was heard 
and answered ; and after a very short stay at the 
Russian head-quarters, carried back his reply, — 
That his Imperial Majesty would negotiate with 
IVapoleon as soon as ever he had withdrawn his 
troops from the Polish and Prussian frontiers. 

This message, and the information that General 
Lauriston had been refused permission to visit Wil- 
na for the purpose of having an interview with Al- 
exander, so enraged Napoleon, that he exclaimed 
— " The conquered assume the tone of conquer- 
ors — Fate leads them on — Let their destiny be ac- 
complished !" 

He spoke a Delphic oracle in these words ; for 
they certainly are accomplished, though in a man- 
ner directly contrary to his translation of their 
jmeaning. 



14 

Without a moment's delay, at the same instant 
he issued orders to c.oss the Neimen, and to send 
forth the following address to his troops. 

" SOLDIERS ! 

" The second Polish war is commenced. The 
first was terminated at Friedland and Tilsit. At 
Tilsit Russia swore eternal alliance with France, 
and as eternal a war with England. She now vio- 
lates her oaths. She declares she will give no ex- 
planation of her strange conduct, until the French 
eagles have re-passed the Rhine ; leaving by that 
abandonment, our allies at her discretion. 

" Russia is led on by a fatality. Her destiny 
must be fulfilled ! 

" Does she believe us degenerated ? Are we no 
longer the soldiers of Austerlitz ? She places us 
between dishonour and war. The choice is not 
doubtful. We march, forward ! we pass the Nie- 
men ! and will carry war into the heart of her ter- 
ritory. The second Polish war will be as glorioug 
to the arms of France as was the first. But the 
peace which we shall conclude will carry its own 
guarantee : it will annihilate that proud and over- 
bearing influence which, for fifty years, Russia has 
exercised over the affairs of Europe." 

" Head-quarters, Wilkowiski, 
June 22d, 1812." 

On the twenty-third of the same month, the 
head-quarters of Napoleon were removed to the 
neighbourhood of Kovna, within a league of the 
Niemen. After visiting the line of posts on that 
river, and throwing across three bridges at the seve- 
ral points selected for the passage, at an early hour 
in the evening the army was in motion ; and by 
eleven at nioht the three columns had reached the 

• . -IT 

opposite shore. The light troops arriving at Kov- 
na in great force, and falling unexpectedly on a 
body of Cossacs who occupied that town, drove 



15 

them out with terrible slaughter. Thus, in this 
spot, were hostilities commenced ! 

The news soon reached the Russian head-quar- 
ters ; and the aggression was of too deep a dye to 
allow of any farther forbearance. That his people 
might not be ignorant of the end to which this 
treacherous act (committed in the very hour of ne- 
gotiation) was to lead, the Emperor addressed to 
them the following declaration. 

" We have long observed the hostile intentiop^ 
of the Emperor of the French against Russia. 
But we hoped, by our forbearance, to allay the 
adverse spirit ; and to convince him, by our mode- 
ration, of the policy as well as justice of not seek- 
ing to overwhelm all Europe by the weight of 
one power. 

" Our amicable efforts were repeatedly disap- 
pointed ; and, at last, seeing that our patience 
rather invited insult, than -persuaded to confidence, 
we found ourselves obliged to resign our wish of 
preserving the tranquillity of our people, (if that 
might be called tranquillity, which must have been 
purchased by the sacrifice of all their dearest inter- 
ests !) and to fly to arms. Though brought even 
to this point, that the enemy might have no excuse 
for the violation of his faith, we refused not to 
listen to the embassies he continued to send to our 
quarters ; still shewing our will to avoid a rupture, 
though we kept our station on the frontiers, ready 
to maintain the peace or to support a war. 

" But neither moderation nor forbearance had 
other effect on the French Emperor, than to give 
him time in which to act his premeditated breach 
of all honour. While the pacific words of his 
aide-de-camp, the count Narbonne, were yet sound- 
ing in our ear, he crossed the Niemen, attacked 
Kovna ! and thus by a deed of the basest and most 
sanguinary aggression began the war. 

" The hope of peace, without a contecf, is at an 



16 

€nd ; and we have now no other resource than 
to oppose our brave soldiers to the invader, and 
to invoke the Supreme Judge of all, to bless the 
Righteous Cause ! 

" We have no occasion to remind our Generals, 
or Commanders of regiments, or our troops in 
general, what is either their duty or their honour. 
The blood of the Sclavonians, so illustrious by 
their virtues and their victories, flows in their veins. 
Soldiers! you defend your Faith, your Country, 
and your Liberty ! Your Emperor marches at your 
head, and the God of Justice is against the Ag- 
gressor ! 

" Alexander." 

" Wilna, 13th of June, 1812, O. S. 
25th of June, 1812, N. S." 

:4 k 

Independent of this manifesto, the Emperor ad- 
dressed an official letter to Marshal Count Solti- 
koff, president of the imperial council of state, in 
which he repeats the substance of what he had ad- 
dressed to the nation ; but, entering into more par- 
ticular details of the French subtilties and dishon- 
our, concludes the communication with these mag- 
nanimous words : 

" My brave people, attacked in their very homes, 
know well how to defend them with a perseverance 
that will never ground its arms till the indepen- 
dence of the nation terminates the war. And as 
for myself, I will never sheath the sword while a 
single enemy remains within the precincts of the 
empire." 



The trumpet of hostilities having been now sound- 
ed from both camps, the adverse armies put them- 
selves in general motion. The force employed by 
France to draw down upon Russia her " inevitable 
destiny," was thus divided and commanded. 



17 

A leading corps, composed chiefly of cavalry and 
flying artillery, was under the orders of Murat 
(King of Naples.) 

The first corps. Marshal Davoust (Prince of 
Eckmuhl.) 

The second corps* Marshal Oudinot (Duke of 
Reggio.) 

The third corps* Marshal Ney (Duke of Elchin- 
gen.) / '^ 

The fourth and sixth corps. Beauharnois (Vice^ 
roy of Italy.) 

The fifth and seventh (the seventh being Reg- 
niefi Saxons, and Dombrosky's corps.) and the 
eighth, were under the orders of Jerome Buona- 
parte (King of Westphalia.) 

The ninth corps* Victor (Duke of Belluno.) 

The tenth corps (composed of French and Prus^ 
sians.) Macdonald (Duke of Tarento.) 

The corps of Marshals Davoust, Nej, Oudinot, 
MacdonaM, the Prince Poniatofsky, and that of 
the guards passed the Niemen, almost at the same 
time, at Jourboorg, Kovna, Olitta, and Mercez. 
This advance commenced on the 23d of June, when 
the French troops completely established them- 
selves on the right bank of the Niemen ; and, by 
the 26th, they had pushed their light cavalry to 
within nine or ten leagues of Wilna. 

When Alexander received information of these 
movements, he gave orders for the immediate re- 
union of his army at Drissa. But that point of 
concentration being at a considerable distance 
from the frontiers ; and those frontiers stretch- 
ing to an immense extent on all sides ; and along 
\vhich the troops had been necessarily spread 
to defend them ; (as it was not to be divined at 
what part the enemy would first oppose himself ;) 
ia complete obedience to this command must take 
time to accomplish. When the Emperor issued 
this order, the Russian army occupied the follow- 
ing places : 

.3 



18 

Head-quarters were at Wilna, where were sta- 
lionetl a part of the Imperial guards. A reserve of 
that corps was at Swantziany. The whole was 
commanded by Barclay de Tolly in chief. 

The right of the first division, consisting of thir- 
ty thousand men, stretching from Chawli to Telch 
and TVilkomir, was commanded by Count Yigten- 
stein. 

The second division, consisting of twenty-five 
thousand men ; which had previously occupied 
Kovna, but on the approach of the enemy to the 
banks of the Niemen, had fallen back to Schirving, 
between Wilkomir and Wilna, was under General 
Baggavout. 

The third and fourth divisions of Generals Shou- 
valofFand Touchkoff, each amounting to twenty- 
six thousand men, occupied Novtroky, and from 
thence to Lida. These divisions were called the 
First Army. 

A part of General DochtorrofF's, (or the Fifth 
division, amounting to twenty thousand men,) un- 
di^r Count Palhen, occupied Grodno. Dbchtor- 
roff had, some short time before, been detached 
from the Second Army, which consisted of sixty 
thousand men, and was commanded by Prince Bra- 
gation, then stationed at Bainstock and Wilkowiski, 
to«:ether with a lara;e bodv of Cossacs under Pla* 
toff. 

A corps &f observation amounting to twenty-^ 
five thousand men, under the command of Gehe- 
ral Tormozoff, was left at Loutzk. And Generals 
iilss^en and Steingel, commanded in and near lliga, 
k body of twenty thousand. 

In the event of a rupture, the plan of the cam- 
paign, determined on by the Emperor Alexander 
and his military council, was, as a first measure, 
that of retiring to the banks of the Dwitia ; where 
a strengthened position was preparing at Drissa, 
to receive the whole concentrated force of the Rus- 
^:ians. Experience bad taught them, from the lafe 



19 

wars, aod by the brilliant examplfi in the western 
Peuinsiila, that the only mode of ensuring ulii- 
mate success against the present enemy was that 
of a protracted warfare. To this plan they added 
that of laying waste the intermediate country ; sac- 
rificing a province of their own empire, even to 
the demolition of towns and villages, that the ene- 
my might have no means of subsistence, no shel- 
ter for his troops. 

Drissa was the point of re-union, and according- 
ly every branch of the extended Russian army 
moved towards it. On the 28th of June, the rear 
of the main body left ihe city of Yvllna, after hay- 
ing destroyed nearly every thing in the magazines 
which might have been of service to the enemy. 
It crossed the Yilia with a trifling loss, burning 
the wooden bridge by which they passed that 
river. 

Count Yigtenstein left Wilkomir and its neigh- 
bourhood, proceeding to Breslau, where he arrived 
on the 7th of July. The reserve of Guards sta- 
tioned at Swautziany, moved forward to pass the 
Dwina; whilst the corps of Baggavout, Toutcli- 
koffj and SchouvalofF, formed their union at the 
same time in and about Widzy. By these move- 
ments it was hoped tlie communication w^s en- 
sured with the division of Dochterrolf, which was 
in the neighbourhood of Weleyka. 

Without losing a moment, when Prince Bra- 
gation was apprised that the enemy had effected 
the passage of the Niemen, he set his army in mo- 
i'loi}, to effect a junction with the main body at 
Drissa. To cover this march, wdiich he foresaw 
would be traversed by innumerable difficulties, he 
ordered Piatoff to move upon Grodno. 

During these movements the French followed 
the steps of their adversary with eager activity; 
and, it was plainly perceptible that the object of 
Napoleon was to turn the right flank of the Rus- 
sians, and to cut off the re-union of Dochtorroff. 



20 

Could he effect this final separation, he would 
completely throw himself between the first and 
second armies, and so Alexander's plan of defence 
would be destroyed. 

The official reports of the French leader rela- 
ting to this period of the campaign, would lead us 
to attach some blame to the Russian Commander-^ 
iu'Chief, Barclay de Tolly, for the precipitancy 
of the retreat from Wilna to Drissa ; and also for 
leaving General DochtorrofF several days without 
orders, and Prince Bragation in total ignorance 
of the steps that had been taken to form a junction 
of the, two armies on the opposite shore of the 
Dwina, 

With respect to DochtorrofF, it was well known 
that on the 30th, his corps reached Ochmiani, and 
that the Prince had, according to the exigency 
of the moment, put himself in full advance to ap- 
proach the centre of the main army, DochtorrofF, 
although followed up by a force of the enemy far 
superior in numbers to his own, so well disposed 
his cavalry and light troops, that he reached 
Borodino, with a very trifling loss, on the 4th of 
July ; having sustained the repeated attacks of the 
different corps of Borde, Soult, Nansouty, and 
Pajol, Thus by his courage and activity he gained 
the left shore of the Dwina, and secured his passage 
of the river. 

Meanwhile the right of the army, covered by 
its cavalry and light troops, with intrepid resolu- 
tion, continued its movements upon Drissa. On 
the 6th of July, the rear guard under the command 
of Major-Generals KorfF and KoutaitzofF was at- 
tacked near the river Dziasna, by the troops of 
Murat supported by a strong corps of flying ar- 
tillery under the command of General Montebi-une. 
The Russian dragoons received the charge with 
their usual steadiness ; and attacking in their 
turn with a regiment of Polish Hulans, and the 
Cossacs of the guards, aided hy several pieces 



21 

of light artillery, completely repulsed the enemy ; 
who left in the hands of the victors several officers ; 
amongst whom was Prince Hohenloe-kirchberg, 
in the service of. the King of Wirtemburg. There 
were also fifty or sixty soldiers. This advantage 
allowed the Russian troops to gain the opposite 
side of the river without further molestation ; and 
to destroy the bridges. 

On the 8th of July the main body passed the 
Dwina at Dinaburg, leaving the rear guard at the 
distance of a short march; and on the 9th, most 
of the divisions entered the entrenched camp at 
Drissa. 

Thus was effected this momentous movement, af- 
ter a rapid and severe march of eleven days, during 
which the troops never relaxed their usual firmness 
and discipline. Indeed their loss wa$ compara- 
tively inconsiderable ; for from the commencement 
of their falling back from Wilna, until they 
entered Drissa, it did not exceed in killed, wound- 
ed, and prisoners, six hundred men. The enemy 
suffered equally, if not in a greater proportion ; 
the Russians having made in casual skirmishes 
during this retreat, above three hundred priso- 
ners. 

The weather had been extremely hot, and was 
succeeded by a shai^p cold, accompanied with 
very heavy rains. This circumstance was an miK-. 
iliary to Russia, for P^apoleon complains of it, 
as having greatly retarded his advance ; although 
it so little affected the experienced sons of the 
North, that they gained their entrenchments with- 
out the loss of a single piece of aiiillery, 

Owing to indisposition, arising from the late ex- 
traordinary fatigues. Count Schouv^loff found hi?n- 
self obliged to withdraw from the army ; and tlKj 
command of his division was given to General 
Count Osterman Tolstoy, an officer of the first 
military talents, and who, at that time, was in te 
suite of his Emperor. 



22 

The Imperial Alexander, setting the true ex- 
ample of a hero, that of sharing with his soldiers 
their severest toils, never quitted his troops one 
hour during the whole of their rigorous march ; 
and his hardihood was rewarded, for he had con- 
stant opportunities of being assured of their anima- 
ted loyalty to his person, and of their impatience 
to be led against the enemy. 

Great as was the satisfaction he felt at these de- 
monstrations, he was obliged to check their ardour, 
until the moment should arrive when circum- 
stances would permit him to give it way to ad- 
vantage. 

On taking possession of the fortified camp at 
Drissa, his Majesty addressed his army, in the gen- 
eral orders of the day, in these terms : 

" RUSSIAN W^ARRIORS ! 

" You have at length reached the object towards 
which we directed our views. When the enemy 
dared to pass the boundaries of our Empire, you 
were upon its frontiers in order to protect them ; 
but Until a complete re-union of our troops could 
be effected, it became necessary to curb your in- 
trepid courage ; and to fall back to our present 
position. We came here to assemble and con- 
centrate our forces. Our calculations have been 
propitious. The whole of the first army is now on 
this spot. 

" Soldiers ! The field is open to that valour so 
nobly obedient to restraint, so eager to maintain 
the renown already given to its name. You will 
now gather laurels worthy of yourselves, and of 
your ancestors. This day, already signalised by 
the battle of Pultowa, will recall to you the ex- 
ploits of your forefathers. The remembrance of 
their valour, the voice of their fame, summon you 
to surpass both by the glory of your deeds ! 
Their vigorous arms ever knew the enemies of 
their country. Go, then ! in the spirit of your 



23 

fathers, annihilate that enemy Avho dares to attack 
your faith, your honour, even your hearts, sur- 
rounded by your wives and children ! 

" God ! witness of the justice of your cause, 
will sanctify your arms with his divine benedic- 
tion ! 

♦' Camp at Drissa, 27th June, 1812, O. S. 
9th July, 1812, N. S." 



The army of Prince Bragation (usually called 
the Second Armi/) continued its advance towards 
Wilna ; but on reaching the environs of the town 
of Ivie, he found his intended line of march already 
occupied by the enemy, and that it w^ould be a 
desperate sacrifice of his troops to attempt by 
force a passage to the left of the main army. He 
knew that army must now be too far distant to af- 
ford him any hope, (even could lie penetrate the 
enemy's columns) to reach it before it must have 
passed the Dwina. 

No doubt being left in his mind of his being, 
for the present, effectually separated from the 
main army, he judged it best to direct his march 
towards Minsk. But again he was intercepted : 
on his approacli to that city, he discovered that it 
was already in the possession of Davoust. Be- 
fore the French could take any advantage of his 
dilemma, the Prince made a retrograde and well 
ordered movement on the road to Sloutsk ; hop- 
ing from thence to reach Mohilofl^ and then to 
gain Yitepsk, time enough to elude the several 
detachments of the enemy, now on the alert to cut 
him off. 

In order to cover Bragation's designs. General 
PlatofF with his Cossacs and light artillery, left 
Lida, and passed through Novogrodeck towards 
Mire and lieswick. On the 7th of July, at Ko- 
relistchi, he was met by th« advanced guard of Je- 



24 

1-oirJe Buonaparte's army, consisting of three col- 
umns of cavalry, Avhich the brave Hetman drove 
back with considerable slaughter. The next day 
he was again attacked (having previously occupied 
the suburbs of Mire) by an augmented force under 
the command of the Polish General Rosnitsky* 
The combat continued several hours, and was sus- 
tained with obstinacy on both sides, till at last 
the persevering courage of the Russians prevailed^ 
and three regiments of Polish Hulans were com- 
pletely destroyed. Their General Tournou, was 
the only man who escaped. The victory was so 
decisive that the enemy abandoned the field of 
battle leaving upwards of one thousand six hun- 
dred killed, and three hundred and fifty prisoners 
in the hands of their conquerors. The loss on the 
Russian side did not exceed six hundred, including 
officers, amongst whom, though all wet-e brave^ 
there were none of distinctiou. 

After this advantage, Platoff directed his troops 
towards Romanoff : but there a fresh rencontre 
awaited him^ with a body yet more formidable 
than either of those he had so lately defeated. 
The French bore down upon him with tremendous 
force and numbers ; but the invincible Cossac was 
immoveable. He sustained the impetuosity of their 
fire, and then overwhelmed them with the fury of 
his own. They fled before him for more than three 
leagues, leaving the first regiment of chasseurs a 
cheval, and also the grenadiers a clleval (some of 
the most prized troops in Napoleon's service) dead 
on the field. Platoff made prisoners in this bril^ 
liant affair, two colonels, sixteen officers, and three 
hundred men. Returning from pursuit, he retra- 
ced his steps to Romanoff', in order to keep up with 
the movements of Bragation, who was advancing by 
forced marches upon MohilofT. 

That Prince having displayed consummate skilly 
and made almost unexampled exertions, to form a 
junction with the raaki army, felt the bitterest 



25 

disappointment at finding himself still so far dis^ 
tant from that great object. And yet when we re- 
iflect on the extended frontier of six hundred w ersts* 
menaced at all points of attack by an army nearly, 
double in numbers to that of the Russians, it is 
not surprising that the body of troops forming the 
Russiari* left, having a vast line of country to tra^ 
verse, should be prevented making a re-Union with 
its main army. 

Notwithstanding every art being adopted by Na^ 
poleon, to impose upon the Emperor Alexander ; 
and to throw him off his guard, by the flattering 
negotiations of General Narbonne ; though he eveii 
stooped to the treachery of passing his troops over 
the Niemen, while he affected to proffer peace, yet 
he failed to find the dupe he expected in the Rus-^ 
sian Emperor : Alexander had been taught a 
lesson in politics by this wily usurper, which 
though he disdained to bring it into his own ac- 
tions, yet furnished him with a talisman by which 
he untwisted the truth from the falsehood in the 
proceedings of his adversary* The knowledge of 
a poison suggests its antidote i and the Russian 
monarch lost no time in preparing against the 
treacherous arrows of the French leader. 

The Rubicon of honour had long been passed 
by Napoleon, before he plunged his hostile troops 
into the waters of the Niemen. The affair of Kov- 
na afforded him a bloody sacrifice to propitiate the 
furies to whom his soul was devoted. And Alex- 
anderj aware of the hatred, as well as ambition, 
which impelled his career, made every prompt move- 
ment to accelerate the concentration of the Russian 
forces at a station of advantage. 

Even the officers of the invading army could not 
help bearing testimony to the fine order in which 
this rapid retreat was made ; and Napoleon himself 
is compelled to give it his share of praise, by not 
venturing to fabricate a boait, in any of his reports 
at this time, of having gained even the smallest ad- 

4 



26 



Vantage over ilie retiring army. Could he liave dis- 
covered in their steps the minutest traces of any of 
the natural calamities incident to ill-ordered retro- 
grade movements, there is no doubt that the pen 
he dictates would have magnified the most trifling' 
disasters into shapes of misery and desji'uction. 
The only remark we find concerning the events of 
this meinorable retreat, is as foHov^^s : 

*^ Ten days after the opening of the campaign, 
our advanced posts are upon the banks of the Dwi- 
na ! Almost all Lithuania, a country containing four 
millions of inhabitants is conquered 1 The move- 
ments of the army commenced on the Vistula, 
The projects of the Em.23eror were then revealed; 
and there was not an instant to be lost in putting 
them into execution. The Russians were engaged 
in concentrating their force at Drissa. They an- 
nounced a determination there to await our ap- 
proach, and give tts battle. They now talk of 
fighting, after having abandoned, without a stroke,, 
their Polish possessions ! Perhaps they adopted that 
peaceable mode of evacuation, as an act of justice 
by way of making some restitution to a country 
which they had acquired neither by treaty, nor by 
the right of conquest." 

If it were possible that Napoleon could really 
imagine that " to make restitution" was the motive 
of this retreat of the Russians, we might be led to con- 
ceive (on revieAving the ground they passed over,) 
what \A ould be Ms 7narks of restitutioiif were he in- 
duced in a fit of remorse, to vacate any of the 
countries which he now possesses " neither by trea- 
ty, nor by the right of concjUest !". It was Alex- 
ander'^s wise policy to leave a desart in the path; 
of the French leader. It was no wanton exercise 
of power, no exultation in human miseries, which 
made him lay waste the country from the Vistula 
to the banks of the *Dwina ; but to compel na- 
ture to be his auxiliary against the most subtle amd' 



27 

ruthless invader that ever trampled upon her lights. 
In extraordinary cases, extraordinary means must 
be resorted to : and Vvhere the properties, lives, lib- 
erties, and consciences of men are at slake, the pur- 
chase is comparatively small which surrenders the 
first and puts the second to hazard, to secure, in 
the remainder, all that is most valuable to the true 
character of man. Alexander and his brave peo- 
ple have acted upon this principle ; and the g;rand 
result has claimed the admiration and the gratitude 
of unfettered Europe, 

The first army having successfully gained the 
entrenchments at Drissa, the Commander-in-chief 
hoped that Bragation, though not able to reach 
that point, might gain Yitepslc ; and by that means 
come in upon his left. In this expectation the 
main army remained in its guarded position ; in- 
lending not to offer battle until supported by its 
second army. 

The enemy's column under the command of 
Marshal Oudinot, having reached the neighbour- 
hood of Dunaboorg, on the morning of the 18th, 
vigorously attacked the head of the bridge, where 
the Russians had constructed some works. Ma- 
jor-General Oulanoff" received the charge with great 
presence of mind, and drove them back with a 
rapidity which occasioned them no small surprise. 
However, they renewed the affaii^ next day ; and 
again were repulsed, and so decisively that their 
commander found it expedient to move off his 
right towards Drouya, whilst the cavalry under 
Murat took possession of Dissna. 

Count Yigtenstein (whose present military repu- 
tation was then presaged by the hopes of the peo- 
ple,) observing that the French posts on the oppo- 
site shore were negligently guarded, ordered Ma- 
jor-Gene ral Koulneff, with the regiment of Grod- 
no, and a few squadrons of Cossacs, to pass the 
river. A flying bridge was instantly constructed ; 
and before the enemy were av/are, the Russian force 



28 

had not only gained the left bank of the Dwina, 
but had fallen upon them ; and in a very short time 
drove them several wersts beyond their posts ; 
leaving six hundred of their killed on the ground, 
and taking many prisoners. The French General 
of brigade, Saint Genies (who was wounded,) with 
numerous officers and two hundred men, were 
among the latter. 

Sebastiani commanded in chief during this un- 
expected encounter, which happened a Vimproviste, 
undoubtedly, as the words of the French bulletin 
express it. And so far it speaks true ; but to pal- 
liate the effects of this unmilitary carelessness on 
the part of the French General, he represents 
KoulnefF's force to amount to eighteen thousand 
men, a number beyond the power of the most ex- 
pert calculator to extract from a single regiment 
of hussars, and a few squadrons of Cossacs, But 
accuracy is not a quality much prized in the school 
of Napoleon, 

The enemy finding that no impression could be 
made on the right of the first army, and that the 
works it occupied on the opposite bank were top 
formidable to be attempted, determined to push 
forward to Vitepsk, to which point the corps of 
Beauharnois, Davoust, and Mortier, were already 
approaching. 

To keep pace with these movements, the left 
flank of the Russians made a rapid advance to- 
wards Polotzk. And as there now remained no 
probability of an immediate re-union with Prince 
Bragation's troops, the Commander-in-chief de^ 
termined to retire to Smolenzk ; where, he hoped, 
no doubt could be entertained, that the first and 
second armies would reach head^quarters about 
the same time. This happy junction would enable 
him to await with sufficient confidence the event of 
a battle. 



29 



It has before been remarked that when hostilities 
commenced on the banks of the Vistula, the total 
effective force of the Russians did not amount to 
more than two hundred and forty thousand men ; 
whilst that of the French allied armies counted full 
four hundred thousand. Besides which, the activity 
of Napoleon was making vast preparations for yet 
further augmentations under the Generals Augereau 
and Victor. 

The Emperor Alexander, finding the great su- 
periority of his adversary's numbers, and being 
aware that the fate of Europe depended on the suc- 
cess of the Northern War, determined on breast- 
ing the occasion with his whole strength. For this 
purpose, he turned himself to call forth the ener- 
gies of his people ; and make every exertion in his 
own power, to provide instant reinforcements for 
the army. He foresaw that even the wished-for 
junction of his first and second armies, could not, 
though crowned with victory in the expected great 
battle, present a force at all equal to follow to 
advantage the glory of the day. He now stood 
forth single-handed, -against the united powers of 
the continent ; and those commanded by a man 
hitherto deemed invincible. This was not a con- 
test, whose reward might be a brilliant action, 
and its termination a compromising treaty. Its 
victories must lead to the annihilation of the ene- 
my ; its end must be the liberty and peace of Eu- 
rope. Such was the great commission which the 
Emperor of Russia felt he was delegated to fulfil ; 
and with the eloquence of a soul inspired with its 
cause, he thus addresses his people. 

He first speaks to his subjects of Moscow, and 
then to the nation at large. 



30 



*' TO OUR ANCIEJNT CITY AND METROPOLIS OF MOSCOW ! 

" The enemy, with unparalleled perfidy, and a 
force equal to his boundless ambition, has entered 
the frontiers of Russia. His design is the ruin of 
our country. The Russian armies burn with im- 
patience to throw themselves upon his battalions, 
and chastise, at the expense of their lives, this 
treacherous invasion. But our paternal tenderness 
for our faithful subjects, will not allow of so despe- 
rate a sacrifice. We will not suffer our brave sol^ 
diers to bleed on the altars of this Moloch. We 
must, meet him in the field, man to man, in equal 
combat ; he for his ambition, we for our. country ! 

" Fully informed of the malignant intentions of 
our enemy, and of the ample means wdth which he 
has provided himself to execute those intentions, 
we do not hesitate to declare to our people the 
daiUger in which the Empire is placed ; and to call 
upon them to disappoint, by their patriotic exer- 
tions, the advantages which the invader now hopes 
to gain by our present inferiority of numbers. 

*' Necessity commands that we should assemble 
a new force, in the interior, to support that which 
is now face to face with the enemy, and determin- 
ed to perish, or remain a barrier between him and 
the liberties of tiieir country. To collect this new 
army, we address ourself to the ancient capital of 
our ancestors, to the city of Moscow. She has al- 
ways been the soveieign city of all the Russias ; 
and- the first, in every case of public danger, to send 
forth from her arms her darling sons, to defend the 
honour of the Empire. As the blood invariably 
rushes to the hero's heart, there to summon every 
energy to the determined soul ; so do the children 
of our country rush towards her from each sur- 
rounding province, seeliing in her bosom the prin^ 
ciple of that defence which must now shield the 
babe at its mother's breast, and guard from sacrilege 
the tombs of our fathers. 



31 

" The very existence of our name in the map of 
nations is menaced. The enemy denounces DE- 
STRUCTION TO RUSSIA! 

"The security of our Holy Church, the safety of 
the throne of the Tzars, the independence of the 
ancient IMuscovite Empire, all call aloud, that the 
object of this appeal may be received by our loyal 
subjects as a sacred decree ! 

" We hasten to present ourself amidst our faith- 
ful people of Moscow ; and from that centre will 
visit other parts of our Empire, to counsel and to 
direct the armaments. ^ 

" May the hearts of our nobles, and those of all 
the other orders of the state, breath forth the spirit 
of this Holy War, which is blessed by God, and 
fought under the banners af His Christian Church ! 
May the filial ardour spread itself from Moscow to 
the extremities of our dominions I And a force 
will then assemble around their Monarch, that 
may defy the thousand legions of our treacherous 
invader. The ills which he has prepared for us, 
will then fall on his own head ; and Europe, de- 
livered froi^ vassalage, may then celebrate the 
Name of— RUSSIA. 

(Signed) " Alexander." 

• " Camp at Poiotzk, July 6th, 1812, O. S. 

July 18th, 1812, N. S." 

The second address is. 



TO THE NATION AT LARGE 



"The enemy has passed our frontiers and car- 
ries his arms into the interior of Russia. If per- 
fidy cannot destroy an empire which has existed 
with increasing dignity for so many ages, he has 
determined to assail it by force ; and to storm the 
dominion of the Tzars with the collected powers of 
continental Europe. 

" With treason in his heart and fidelity on his 
Hps, he courts the credulous ear, and binds the 



32 

hands in chains ; and when the virtue of the cap- 
tive discovers the fetter under the wreath, then the 
spirit of bondage makes itself manifest, and sum- 
mons war to rivet the spells of treachery ! But 
Russia penetrates the wiles. The way of truth 
is open before her : she has invoked the protection 
of God. She opposes to the machinations of her 
enemy an army vehement in coinage ; and eager to 
drive from her territory a race of locusts that bur- 
then the earth ; and whom that earth Avould reject 
from finding graves in her outraged bosom* 

" We call for armies sufficient to annihilate this 
enemy. Our soldiers now in arms, are bold as 
lions rushing on their prey ; but we disguise not 
from our loyal subjects, that the dauntless courage 
of our warriors requires to be supported by an in^ 
terior line of troops. The means ought to be pro- 
portioned to the end ; and the end before us is to 
overAvhelm the tvrant, who would overwhelm all 
the world. 

" We have called upon our ancient city of Mos- 
cow, the first metropolis in our empire, to take the 
lead, as she is wont to do, in bringing forth her 
sons to the Imperial aid. We next call upon all 
our subjects, in Europe and Asia, to assemble 
themselves together in the cause of Mankind ! 
We call tipon all our communities, Civil and Eccle^ 
siastical, to co-operate with us in one general levy 
against the universal tyrant ! 

" Wherever, in this empire, he may advaiice hk 
invading foot, we are assured he will meet native 
subjects to rise upon his treachery ; to disdain his 
flattery and his falsehoods ; and, with the indig- 
nation of insulted virtue, trample upon his gold ; 
and palsy, by the touch of true honour his enslaved 
legions. In each Russian nobleman he will find a 
Pajarskoi (1*), in each ecclesiastic a Palitzin (2), 
and in each peasant a Minin (3) ! 

* Notes to these marks will be fooisd at the end of the volume. 



" Nobles ! you were, in every age/the defenders 
oi your country ! Holy Synod ! and you, the 
members of our Church ! have at all periods, by 
your intercessions, called down upon our empire 
the divine protection ! Russian people ! intrepid 
posterity of the Sclavonians ! it is not the first time 
that you have torn the teeth from the heads of the 
lions who have rushed upon you as prey, and 
met in the grasp their own destruction !— Unite ! 
carry the cross in your hearts, and the iron in your 
hands; and no human force can prevail ao-ainst 
you! ^ 

" The organization of the new forces we dele- 
gate to the nobility of each provimie ; and the care 
of assembling the brave patriots who present them- 
selves for their country's defence, we leave to the 
gentlemen ; amongst whom their officers may be 
chosen. The aggregate numbers must be sent to 
Moscow, where the whole will be duly marshalled. 
(Signed) "Alexander." 

" Given at our camp at Polotzk, My 6ih, 1812, 0. S. 

Jul/ 18th, 1812, N. S. 

The "effect of these manifestoes, was that of elec- 
tricity. The animating fire seemed to shoot at 
once through the veins of the whole empire ; and 
with one according spirit every separate govern- 
ment vied with each other, which should be the 
most prompt in sending out its most etTective men 
to serve the general cause. Cities poured forth 
the choice of their youth, and villages swarmed 
with sturdy peasants arming for the imperial le- 
gions. In these levies it was not necessary to com- 
pel or to persuade. The impulse was in every 
Russian heart; his country's danger sounded the 
charge, and needed no other trumpet to plant him 
in the front of its array. 

^ Besides those who entered themselves to serve 
m the armies ; many individuals evinced their zeal 
by large donations, both in money and in diamonds, 

5 



3i 

tot^ards providing for the necessities of tlie war, 
Olliers raised whole regiments at their own private 
expense, arming, clothing, and mounting them. 
Several of the regiments contained one thousand 
two hundred men in each ; and some of them w^ere 
respectively commanded by the noblemen who had 
given them to their country. As one instance, 
we find in the St. Petersburgh Gazette of this time, 

*' Count SoltikofF, a captain of the guards, retir- 
ed from the Imperial service; Count Demetrius 
MomonofF, prociu'eur of the Imperial senate ; De- 
midoff, privy counsellor actuel ; and Prince Gaga- 
rin, are desirous, from love to their country, to con- 
tribute in a particular manner to the national ar- 
maments. They demand of his Imperial Majesty 
permission to raise, arm, and support, at their own 
charge, each a regiments The first gives a regi- 
ment of hussars ; the second, a regiment of Cos- 
sacs ; the third, a regiment of chasseurs ; and the 
fourth, a regiment of infantry. 

" The Emperor highly appreciates these proofs 
of affeection towards himself^ and love for their 
country !" And the offer was accepted. 



Alexandek left his army to fulfil his promise to 
the ancient capital of the Empire, of soon appear- 
ing in that venerable seat of his ancestors. The 
inhabitants received hhu with the joy due to 
his virtues. He proceeded, first to the cathedjfal 
of the Kremlin, where he returned thanks to hea- 
ven for the protection hitherto granted to his peo- 
ple, and ifivokcd t]ie Ahiiighty aid in tlie present 
iiwfui hotQv He then went to the palace of the 
Tzars. Had it been necessary to animate his heart 
by the spirit of departed ages, there the shades of^ 
Peter the Great and the august Katherine ^would 
have met him, to nerve his imperial arm against 
the base, though formidable power ^> hicli now con- 



35 

spired, by every means of perfidy and violence,' to 
<]estroy tiie happiness and being of an Empire 
which they had erected at such expense of anxie- 
ty and labour. But Alexander did not require 
the stimulus of this Icind of sensibility. His just 
mind saw the danger of Europe, it felt the peril of 
his own empire ; and, wiih an undeviating resolu- 
tion, to efiect the deliverance of the one, and to 
set an example to the other, of a determined hos- 
tility to the usurping ambition of Napoleon, he 
moved straight onward to his object : obtaining a 
power sufficient to meet, on something like equal 
terms, the invader of his country. 

The d^y after his Majesty arrived in Moscow, a 
deputation of nobles waited upon hhn with a report 
of the force which they voluntarily proposed to 
raise and equip for his imperial armies. Tliey 
brought contributions of money also, and of every 
necessary which they thought possible for troops 
to require. The town and government of Moscow 
alone, engaged to send forth one hundred thousand 
men, armed and clothed, and disciplined as far as 
the short time would allow. The rest of the Rus- 
sian governments according to their respective pop- 
ulations, hastened to follow the example of the sove- 
reign city ; and all sent out columns of armed pat- 
riots, quite independent of the regular requisitions 
to recruit the armies. Both levies went on with 
equal spirit — for one spirit seemed to animate the 
whole people. Merchants and tradesmen eagerly 
pressed forward with their gold. As one proof 
of which, we need only mention that the citizens 
of Novogorode gave two himdred thousand rubles 
towards the expenses of the war. 

In Russia, religion is a principle which pervades 
the palace and the cottage ; elevating the com- 
monest actions of the peasant, and sanctifying the 
solemnities of the state, with a constant reference 
to the Supreme Being. No transaction of any con- 
sequence, no great enterprise, is undertaken with- 



36 

out an invocation to the Almighty Disposer of 
Events : and when success is given, the first im- 
pulse of the favoured person is to go to the church, 
and there utter his pious thanksgivings. The ear- 
liest lessons which a Russian learns, both by pre- 
cept and example, are his duty towards his God 
and his Emperor. And Alexander has well shown 
the loyal Rassian that the interest of his Emperor 
and his Country are one. 

Anxious to engage every energy of his subjects 
in a contest which required the whole powers of 
the man to insure the issue ; and convinced of the 
justice of his cause, it was with no vain pretensions 
that he sought the co-operation, of the cjiurch, to 
add its holy flame to the patriotic fij'e now kindled 
amongst his people. The religious principle being 
once introduced into the spirit of patriotism, is as 
the breath of immortal life bi'eathed into its nostrils ; 
and Alexander found he had not only acted ac- 
cording to his own feelings in bringing the influence 
of religion into the war, but had adopted the most 
politic measure, in lightening a train in the mmds 
of his people, which w^ould in a moment set the 
whole mass in a blaze. 

The Holy Synod accorded, hand and conscience, 
with the Emperor, and thus nobly seconded his 
proclamations : 

" From the hour in which the French nation, be- 
wildered by a demoniac phantom of liberty, over- 
threw ihe altars of God, and trampled on the throne 
of his anointed, the hand of the Divine vengeance 
has overshadowed that people. It is not good to 
follow the multitude to do evil ; and the nations 
which have pursued the destructive steps of France, 
share in the judgments which befal her. To the 
horrors of anarchy succeeded those of oppression, 
one struggle followed that of another, and even 
peace had not power to give her repose. 

*' The church and the Empire of Russia, pre- 



37 

served by the goodness of God, as witnesses of his 
glory and mercy, have long been compassionate 
spectators of the miseries plucked by the nations on 
their own heads, by having deserted the protection 
of the Most High. Awful is the spectacle ; and 
with devotion do we receive the warning, to strength- 
en our confidence in the living God, and steadfastly 
to believe and act on the conviction, that where 
His displeasure falls no powers can avert the judg- 
ment, and where His favour rests, no machinations 
can prevail against it. 

" Let us then in the hour of danger, array our- 
selves in the panoply of a holy courage ! and, Rus- 
sians ! that hour is come ! 

" An enemy, ambitious and insatiable, violating 
every sacred oath, and every bond of honour, for- 
ced himself into the bosom of your coimtry. Des- 
pising the holy altars, while uttering the envenomed 
language of hypocrisy ; breathing words of tender 
humanity, while his deeds are those of cruelty and 
murder ; approaching countries with the blandish- 
ments of friendship, and entering them with fire 
and sword, famine, pestilence, and death, in his 
train : such is the tyrant we call upon you to 
oppose. 

" Dear children of our church and, of our coun- 
try, arm ! Defend the faith of your fathers ; and 
in yourselves, preserve from the foot of usurpation 
the unsullied loyalty which was their boast. Give 
freely, and with gratitude to your God and his 
Vicegerent, part of v/hat you hold of the empire 
and of heaven. Spare not your existence in this 
life, in the defence of the homes of your children, 
and of the church, whose charge is your eternal 
home, and your everlasting peace ! 

" Recall to memory the times of your dauntless 
ancestors, who, in the name of God and his Divine 
Son, exposed themselves to every assault of infi- 
delity in arms ; and with the weapons of faith and 
of courage, fought and conquered. Recall to mind 



38 

the days of J udea ! For all that was written afore- 
time, was written for our example. It is a beacon 
to omr eyes ! 

" We call upon you, ye of the higher ranks of the 
state, who have both the power and the right to 
claim the attention of your fellow subjects. We 
call upon you to take the lead in the path of hon- 
our ! The eyes of the people are fixed upon you, 
and will follow your footsteps. I^lay the God of 
Justice animate in you a new race of Joshuas, to 
go forth and overcome this second Amelek ! May 
another race of Judges, like unto them who saved 
Judea ; and a succession of Maccabees, wlio hum- 
bled the confederacies against Israel^ arise amongst 
your people to overwhelm the present enemy of 
mankind ! 

" Above all, we soimd the trumpet unto you, ye 
Ministers of the Holy Altar. By the example of 
Moses, who, on the day of battle with Amelek, 
withdrew not his hands stretched forth unto the 
Lord ; clasp yours in ardent prayer, until the arm» 
of the adversary have lost their strength, a-nd cry 
aloud unto the victors for mercy and for peace. 

" Inspire our warriors with a firm hope in the 
God of armies. Fortify, by the words of truth, 
men of feebler minds, whom ignorance exposes to 
the artifice of imposture. Instruct every order 
both by precept and action, to respect, above all 
things, their faith and their country. And should 
one of the sons of the priesthood, who may not 
have yet been consecrated to the sanctuary, burn 
with zeal to grasp the sword of patriotism, do ye 
bless him in the name of the church, and let him 
follow the fiJial impulse. 

*' Soldiers ! while we thus call you to the field of 
war, we exhort, we supplicate you never to forget 
that it is also the field of justice. Abstain from all 
actions unwo: thy your great cause. Abhor every 
disorder or license that would bring- down on your 
laeads :tiie wrath of a Being who is not more the 



39 

God of Retribution, than the God of Mercy. We 
teconunend to yoii the love of your neighbour, and 
the love of concord. And by such proof of virtue, 
you will fulfil the vows and the hopes of the 
ANOINTED of the Lord, the JUST ALEXAN- 
DER ! 

" Convinced of the anli-chrisiian intentions of 
the enemy, the Holy Church will unceasingly in- 
voke the Lord of our strength to crown with the 
blessings of his peace, the heads of our victorious 
warriors ; and that he will graciously accord to the 
heroes who fall in the defence of their country, art 
imperishable reward of happiaess in the Eternal 
World ! 

" FROM GOD FLOWS ALL GLORY AND 
ALL GOOD ! 

" May these holy words be to the future, what 
they have been to the past — The strength and tht? 
war-cry of Russia." 

By this sublime appeal to the noblest principle in 
man, the war^ in fact became a religious war ; a 
crusade in which the redemption of all that is dear 
to the patriot, and to the christian, (who regard* 
all mankind as brethren,) was involved. They 
fought, not for the Holy Land, but for the Liber- 
ties and consciences of men, a ground much more 
jsanctiiied than Sinai or Sion ; for man alone is the 
temple made by God for his own image to- dwell in ! 
Man in liberty ; man acknoY^ledging no superior 
but the laws of heaven, and the laws of human 
wisdom delegated by heaven. The yoke of a ty- 
rant, is the yoke of baseness, and of crime ; for 
the slave of a tyrant has no will but that of his 
lord. And how the will of a tyrant dictates, we 
have only to read the annals of French iisurpations 
within these fifteen years ; of French devastations; 
of French assassinations. The shades of D'En- 
ghien, of Palm, of the murdered citizens of I^Ios- 
ooY>', and of many oUier countries over which Na- 



40 

poleon had no lawful controul, but where he has 
shed innocent blood, rise up to sanctify the steel 
that is raised against him. 

Immediately on the promulgation of the address 
of the holy synod to the people of Moscow, the 
sons of the clergy offered themselves to bear arms 
in the war. This was an event unprecedented in 
the history of Russia. They felt that the call was 
no common one ; they felt, as the sons of Levi, 
that the ark of their faith was in danger ; and while 
their fathers knelt in the sanctuary, they grasped 
the sword of Gideon and of David. 

Such a general and extraordinary spirit of oppo- 
sition, never came within the calculation of Napo- 
leon. He must be a patriot himself, to compre- 
hend the extent of the sacrifices which a patriot will 
make for the good of his country. Ambition leads 
a man to the brink of a precipice ; but patriotism 
stops not there ; he, if need be, will leap the gulph ; 
and there guardian angels meet him. Nothing, on 
this earth, is too mighty for determined virtue to 
achieve. Napoleon has shown the wide grasp of 
ambition. Alexander unfolds to mankind, hoAV far 
beyond it philanthropy may stretch its arms. 

Napoleon, v/hen he entered Russia, pictured to 
himself, (or others did so for him, whose knowl- 
-edge of the Russian nation ought to have been bet- 
ter,) that the peasantry Weie impatient to shake off 
the power of their lords ; and to abjure the con- 
troul of the priesthood over their consciences. 
W hether the sway of their lords have been tyrannic, 
or the influence of the priests extended to supersti- 
tion, the reception which these supposed slaves gave 
to the flattering seductions of the French, has made 
manifest. In vain did the dictator of kingdoms 
look for traitors amongst the descendants of a peo- 
ple whom neither the arms of the Macedonian Al- 
exander, nor the Ca3sars of Rome, could make 
bend to their eagles ! Thousands flew to the re- 
spective standards of their governments : and every 



41 

ikJWn and every village, resounded with impreca- 
tions against the invaders ; and expressions of 
Unshaken fidelity to their church, their Emperor, 
and their lords. 

Moscow honoured the confidence which the state 
had placed in her zeal, and set a glorious example 
to the rest of the Empire, by raising, in the course 
of a few days some thousands of men, armed and 
clothed for the armies. The roads in all directions 
from the numerous Russian governments, were 
covered with patriots fully accoutred, according to 
the manner of their country. These brave people 
were neither dressed nor armed in the usual Euro^ 
pean style. The regular levies, being now so im-' 
mense, it was found impossible to furnish a suf- 
ficient number of muskets for these volunteers. 
Consequently each nobleman was obliged to arm his 
people with a more simple weapon ; and the pike 
was chosen as the most efficient of the kind* Their 
uniform was a grey caftan^ made in the national 
fashion^ with loose trowsers of the same, and a 
cap of a similar colour and taste* Oh the front of 
the cap was a brazen cross, surmounting an imperial 
crown over the letter A. They wore a crimson 
sash round their waists, in which was stuck a hatch- 
et ; a weapon which is so constantly seen with 
every Russian peasant that it seems a part of 
themselves ; and they use it, with a dexterity and 
power that, in description, would appear incredible. 

I am thus particular in describing the peculiar 
habits of these peoplci because I wish to give an 
texact picture of a race to whom Russia and Eu-« 
rope owe so much. Like the militia of Great Bri- 
tain, which is its grand reserve of military strength* 
ihese Russian volunteers may be considered to have 
been the exhaustless resource of the regular Impe^ 
rial troops. Reinforcements from their body, con- 
stantly supplied the casual deficiencies of the main 
army. It was they who at Polotzk, Smolenzk, an(J 

6 • ... 



42 

Borodino, stood, as if they had been legions of ironv 
not to be penetrated ; and when the veterans fell,, 
they, like the teeth of Jason's dragon, presented 
themselves a renovated, band of heroes not to be 
subdued. 

The whole empire seemed to rise at once ; and, 
Avith one animating sentiment, turned its gigantic 
force against the enemy. The brave Sovereign of 
these brave people, had already pledged himself 
** never to sheathe his sword, while one of the foe 
remained within the limits of the empire!" and 
his subjects, from the prince to the peasant, came 
nobly forward with their arms and their fortunes, 
to seal, if need be, the glorious resolution with 
their bloods 



While these vast preparations Were in progress 
the first and second armies continued daily to ap- 
proach each other. Barclay de Tolly's force broke 
up from the entrenched camp on the 19th of July ; 
and, after rapid marches through Polotzk and Vi- 
tepsk, (there passing the Dwina) he took a position 
HI front of the latter city. 

This w.afi effected on the 24th of the month, 
leaving Count Yigtenstein, with an independent 
command, (who had 'previously been reinforced by 
some battalions from the reserve) to occupy the 
ground between Sebeche and Drissa, in order to 
cover the city of Pskoff, which leads directly to 
St. Petersburgh, and to keep in check the divisions 
of Oudinot and Macdonald. 

Barclay de Tolly w^as well assured that the ene- 
my would not lose an instant in pushing on to Smo- 
lenzk, that he might effectually destroy any hopes 
of Prince Bragation coming up with the main army. 
Indeed great doubt prevailed of this momentous 
junction taking place without yet many preven:^ 



43 

tions, as no intelligence had been received from 
that General for a considerable lime. Under such 
uncertainty it became the duty of the Commander- 
in-chief to act with peculiar caution and prompt- 
itude. His determinations in this state of affairs, 
were founded on his confidence in the military 
abilities of Bragation ; which, he hoped, would 
at last conquer the difficulties of a forced march, 
over so vast a tract of country, infested by an ac- 
tive and formidable enemy. To impede the alrea- 
dy so rapid advance of that enemy, and give more 
time for the brave Prince to effect the re-union, the 
only thing that could n^ow be done, was to make 
immediate demonstrations for a general battle. 

In order to decide advantageously upon the 
movements towards this point, reconnoitering par- 
ties were dispatched on aM sides ; and one of them 
discovered patroles of the enemy, on the road 
leading to Beschenkovitch. No time was lost in 
Bending Count Osterman Tolstoy, with the troops 
imder his command, to advance in that direction. 
General Dochtoroff had previously been left on 
the right bank of the Dwina, to observe the French 
on the opposite shore ; and with orders, should he 
perceive their troops preparing to go forward, to 
retard them by every means in his power, while he 
must maintain a situation that would ensiire his 
return to the main army at Vitepsk, whenever the 
re-union might be deemed necessary. 

Count Osterman commenced his march by day-^ 
break on the 25th of .Tuly. His advance was form- 
ed of several squadrons of the imperial hussars of 
the guards. Having passed Ostrovna, at the dis- 
tance of three wersts from that town, they fell in 
with a strong body of the enemy, consisting totally 
of cavalry. They attacked it with vigour, and were 
met by a resistance proportionate to the magnitude 
of its force. However, the resolution and eager 
valour of the Russians prevailed, and the French, 
giving groundj retired with precipitation. 



44. 

The error, which has so often bc^en ebininitted 
and deplored by victorious armies, of following up 
without caution the hour of success, was now ex- 
hibited in the impetuosity of the Russians, who, 
pursuing the flying enemy with a headlong ardour, 
came suddenly upon a formidable mass of the ene-- 
my's cavalry ; and they attacking in their turn, and 
at a great advantage, the now del-ached corps of the 
triumphant Russians, drove them back, with loss, 
quite to the head of their oAvn infantry. 

This affair hnpeded the advance of Osterman, 
who halted to take a position that might check the 
consequences of this minor defeat. 

Beauharnois pressed forward to improve the adf 
vantage gained, and before dawn next morning, the 
Russian piquets were driven in. The French fol- 
lowed up their success, by advancing in three 
heavy columns, covered by immense bodies of 
cavalry led on by Murat. 

The right of the Russian troops was posted upon 
the Dwina. Their centre crossed the great road 
leading to Vitepsk ; and their left was co vexed by 
a woK)d in which were stationed a considerable 
quantity of artillery and infantry. 

The right of the enemy, supported by a strong 
body of dragoons, began the attack on this part of 
the Russian position, and attempted with unwearied 
perseverance, to get possession of the wood. They 
were frustrated in every effort by the well-directed 
fire of the guns, and that of the light troops. The 
other two columns were equally unsuccessful od 
the centre and on the right ; and, after a terrible 
carnage maintained on both sides, the continued su- 
periority of numbers (constantly^ renewed) on the 
part of the French, not even shaking the steady 
line of the Russians ; the former, at last relinquish- 
ed a contest which had been sustained so determi- 
pately for many hours, left the Russians in posses^ 
giott of the disputed field. The loss on the part of 



45 

ihe French was from three to four thousand, kliled 
nnd wounded ; and that of the Ftussians fell not far 
short of the same number. 

Notwithstanding the enemy having yielded 
ground in this affair, Count Osterman saw the ad- 
vantage of re-uniting himself with the main army. 
But, before he took this step, he detached in front 
Lieutenant General Konovnitzea with a force suf- 
ficient to keep the French, a short time at least, at 
their present distance, that the Commander-in- 
chief might not lose, by a hasty rencontre, the ad- 
vantage of receiving information, and of adequate- 
ly preparing for a grand conflict with an enemy 
who though formidable, had already so sharply ex- 
perienced the metal of the Russian sword. 

The officer intrusted with this post of honour, 
maintained it so effectuaily, that, although the 
whole of the day of liie 27th of July was passed in 
repelling frequent and vigorous attacks from ihe 
French, he yet could not be forced to recede one 
single foot of ground. On the same spot where 
Osterman Tolstoy had stationed them, there did 
Konovnitzen and his brave little band remain, a 
breast-work of the most impregnable fabric, be- 
tween the main army and its enemies, until, the 
summons of the Commander-in-chief called tbem off 
during the night, to fall in with the grand line he 
was forming to meet, what he now deemed inev- 
itajble, a general, battle. The corps of General 
Dochtoroff also returned according to orders, but 
not until he had defeated a detachment of the ene- 
my which had crossed the Dwina, killing the aide- 
de-camp of Beauharnois, and. taking several pris- 
oners. 

Whilst every preparation was making to stand 
the event of a great attack from the French, and 
every heart in the Russian army beat with eager- 
ness for the moment to charge,, Barclay de Tolly 
received a despatch from Prince Bragation. It in- 
Ibniaed his Excellency that the Prince, finding Mo- 



46 

liilolT powerfully occupi'ed by the enemy, bad al- 
tered his course, and meant to proceed, by the 
way of Mastisloff, to Smolenzk. General Platoff 
bad arrived within two marches of this city^ 

The effect of this intelligence was, to change the 
determination of the Commander-in-chief with re- 
gard to giving immediate battle ; and, instead of 
remaining in the environs of Yitepslc, he resolved 
on approaching Smolenzk, and there draw out his 
line against the enemy. He dispatched a courier 
to Bragation with these dispositions, and another 
to PlatofF, commanding him to place himself be- 
fore Smolenzk, in order to cover the march of 
the first array from the probable molestation of 
Davoust's division, which must nowhave nearly 
reached that town. 

The Commander-in-rhief's present plan began 
by forming his army into three columns ; the sec- 
ond and third moving upon Porechia ; the first, 
covering their march, by bearing upon Leznia and 
Houdnia. The command of the troops, which were 
to protect this general movement, v/as given to 
Count Pallien ; who, very judiciously, placed his 
detachments along the banks of the Loutchessa, a 
small river in front of the main army, which occu- 
pied the plain before Yitepsk. 

As was expected, the enemy advancecl^ and at- 
tacked this coverins; force ; but Count Palhen foil- 
ed him in all his attempts to pass the river, ihe 
Kussiari light artillery did great execution amongst 
their adversaries ; and tlie Count, directing every 
motion of his troops, seemed to be in every part of 
the field at once. His presence of mind and active 
bravery, gave time to the several divisions of the 
main body to move forward in perfect security. 
This accomplished, he threw himself into the great 
xoad, by the way of Agaponovchina, where he erect- 
ed so efficient a battery at the entrance of the 
town, that its fire destroyed, in succession, upwards 
<>f five entire squadrons of French cavalry whidrt- 



4?7^ 

attempted to follow him. This shower of balls beat 
so heavily in the faces of all who dared to pursue 
the dangerous steps of their comrades, that the chase^ 
was abandoned, and the dauntless Palhen completed 
the remainder of his march without the sound of a 
bullet. 

The Command€r-in-chief, on the arrival of th© 
three <:olumns at their destined points, detached 
General Baron Vinziiigorode, with a strong body, 
to V/eliche, and gave orders to General Krosnoif 
to retire from Porechia, and concentrate his force 
near Roudnia. 

Having thus secured his right llanlv, the main_<9f 
the army advanced towards the village called V o- 
lokva, resting its right on the lalce Kasiolen^ \fhile 
its front was protected by the small river Vodra^ 
Its left extended to Novoseltzi. In this position 
the whole were to remain until the second army 
should form its junction. 

From the reports of Baron Yinzingorode, the? 
Commander-in-chief w^s informed that the great 
force of the French had entered Yitepsk, where 
they were making dispositions for a stay of some 
time, only sending out strong detachments of caval- 
ry to forage and terrify the inhabitants of the ad- 
jacent country from Veliche and Novel, and on the 
road to Roudnia. 

It now became evident that, even so early as this. 
Napoleon found the demands of the campaign, both 
with regard to resources and animal strength, be- 
yond the expectations and the power of his men. 
Although his bulletins vaunt of the numerous maga- 
zines' which fell into his possession during this rapid 
marcli, the situation of his troops could not but con- 
tradict these assertions. Their privations and con- 
sequent exhaustion, compelled that truth to appear 
in fact, which he denied in language ; and w^e find 
this array, wiiose unfailing spirits, unabated vigour, 
iind repletion in every necessary, were so largely 
'*lhe theme of his boast, reduced to the alternative 



of sacrificing, to rest, a part of that time so essen" 
tial to the final success of the invasion. 

The harassed troops halted ten days ; and, thai 
*' the delay might not excite doubts in France of their 
health and triumphant hopes, their leader repre-' 
sents in his reports, not that his men needed reno- 
vation from wants and extraordinary fatigues, but 
that the heat of the season made a tem/porary retire- 
ment into qiiariers necessary ! This excuse to cover 
the hardships into which his ambition had led the 
army of infatuated France, and the best troops of 
so many abused countries, seems almost too flimsy 
for the blindest partiality not to penetrate. Who 
could be made to believe seriously that a halt of 
nearly a fortnight was indispensable to pre'sei;ve 
from the excessive heat of a northern summer, a sol-^ 
diery who, not only were in full possession of mm- 
failing spirits, unabated vigour^ and every necessary, 
but who must have previously been inured to exces-^ 
sive heat, under the almost unceasing burning suns 
of southern climates ? 

During this halt of the enemy, and while Barclay 
de Tolly was awaiting the arrival of Bragationj the 
corps of Vigtenstein actively employed themselves 
in the neighbourhood of Polotzk. That general, 
havino; been assured by a co,urier from the Com- 
mander-io-chief of the certain prospect of the first 
and second army's re-union, in order to keep the 
attention of the enemy as much as possible from 
the point of this anticipated junction, continued to 
harass their troops in every direction. He had 
never left his position near Drissa, and from that 
advantageous ground made considerable impression 
on the enemy, taking many prisoners, and forcing 
Napoleon to Send reinforcements to his troops iri 
that quarter. 

Macdonald still kept in the vicinty of pinaburg^ 
where he Vv'as narrowly watched by a detachment 
from the Russian main army, under Colonel Be- 
diag-a. This active oiiicer gave information to the 



49 

Commander-in-chief that the French General had 
passed the Dwina at Yacobstadt, and after leaving 
a force at Dinaburg, was marching to Loutzen 
with the hope of joining Oudinot, and by that meas^ 
ure cutting off all communication between the im- 
perial armies and St. Petersburgh. 

Vigtenstein was detached to prevent this danger- 
ous junction. On the evening of the eleventh of 
August, he fell in with a part of Oudinot's cavalry 
near Kochanova ; he drove thprn back, but found 
them so strongly supported, as to deem it prudent 
to make arrangements for the re-commencement of 
the contest next day. By the account of a prisoner 
he had taken, he learnt that it was not only the in- 
tention of Oudinot to cut off the communication 
with St. Petersburgh, but to march thither and 
take possession of it in the name of Napoleon, 
while that usurper would proceed in person to 
Moscow, and place himself in the ancient throne of 
the Tzars. 

This plan was so entirely the offspring of Na- 
poleon's own mind ; so completely did it spring, 
armed cap-a-pee, from the head of its projector, 
that he deemed it no less the decree of fate, than if 
his own brows had been those of Jove, to stamp 
with their awful nod the seal of destiny. Napoleon 
and his Fortunes, carried a divine power with them 
as victorious as those of Ceesar ! at least so he be- 
lieved ; and planting these fortunes on a system of 
universal falsehood, he doubted not but his arms, 
potent as they were, would not have more agency 
in giving the empire into his hands, than the in- 
trigue and sophistry with which he sought to per- 
suade the people that he came to rescue them from 
obedience to their Emperor and Lords. He told 
them they were slaves, and he came to make them 
free ! Such was the freedom with which the Devil 
in Paradise endowed the hmnan race. The ex- 
change was between the yoke of virtue and that of 
vice. Whether they obey the laws of a sovereign 

7 



eminent for every amiable and heroic quality, or 
a tyrant who knows no law, human or divine, but his 
own capricious and imperious will. The Russian 
race were too clear sighted to hesitate in their choice. 
Their interest, as well as their affectioit for their 
Emperor, nerved every arm, and with the cry in 
their hearts of " God and the laws of our ances- 
tors !" they prepared to show Napoleon that a 
w^hole people, unanimous in defence of their birth- 
rights, may be extirpated, but never can be sub- 
dued. 

The military talents of Vigtenstein^ a& well a^ 
the determination of his troops, stood too firmly in 
the way of Oudinot, for him to accomplish the St. 
Petersburgh part of his master's design. His ad- 
vanced corps being driven in by the Russians on 
the eleventh, he had the mortification of seeing their 
General augment his numbers by drawing troops 
from Osvia, and then proceed in a formidable posi- 
tion from Kochanova, defeating in his path every 
enemy which dared oppose his progress. Thus en- 
forcing respect to the Russian arms, he moved on 
to Vaiensouti, which town he strengthened with a 
competent detachment of men. 

Oudinot, finding he eouM make no impression on 
the Osvia road, 09?dered his army to concentrate 
itself near Polotzk, and form an imion with some 
Mew troops of Wirtemburghers and Bavarians, which 
had just arrived under the commaiiid of Gouvion St. 
Cyr. When thus reinforced h© determined to again 
press on towards his grand object, and do it by the 
way of Kliiastitzy and Sebeche. His resolution 
strengthened with his augmented forces, and san- 
guine of the event, he commenced the movements 
which he hoped would certainly lead Mm to the 
gates of St. Petersburgh. 

Yigtenstein, whose penetrating mind seemed 
master of all the enemy's counsels, was aware of 
Oudinot's designs, and made dispositions against 
them almost as soon as they were conceived. He 



lost no time in moving towards Yacobova, to which 
place the enemy had advanced, and where he found 
them so well apprised of his motions as to be drawn 
up in line of battle. The Russians were in no way 
dismayed at this formidable front, or at its support- 
ing back-groimd, a heavy battery ; but impelled 
by tiiat resistless courage which, like the ligbtning, 
pierces the most compact bodies, they rushed upon 
the enemy, bore down the whole of his left, and 
then pressing with equal vehemence upon the cen- 
tal, after a resistance on its part of more than six 
hours, compelled it to give way under the unremit- 
ted storm of their valour ; and, sheltered by the 
darkness which had closed upon the combatants, 
the discomfited French fell back towards Kliastitzy. 

Yigtenstein remembered well the pledge of his 
Emperor, " not to sheathe his sword while one of 
the enemy remained within the Tanits of the Rus- 
sian empire !" and in the same spirit, he followed 
up the success of his first encounter with Oudinot. 
Next day he attacked him again. The French 
General had made good dispositions of his troops 
during the few hours of night, and received the as- 
sault with firmness. He had chosen his ground 
well ; and obstinately, though with great loss, main- 
tained the fight till midnight. It was not until the 
tliii-d day, that Yigtenstein entirely overthrew his 
resolute enemy, and in that act covered himself 
and his soldiers with immortal glor^. Tiie greater 
part of the army of Oudinot was now destroyed, 
and the remnant was flying in blood and confusion 
towards the French lines under the walls of Polotzk. 

In his report count Yigtenstein speaks of the af- 
fair in these terms : 

** During the three days of attack, fpe corps I 
have the honour to command performed prodigies 
of valour. Their resolution was not to be shaken, 
and their ardour, like a devouring flame, consumed 
311 before them. The particular acts of their daunts 



'52 

less and persevering heroism I can neither describe 
nor sufficiently praise. The artillery and the bay- 
onet were equally the instruments of their zeal ; 
for where the one fell short of the mark, the other 
was pushed forward with a resolution that overthrew 
whole ranks of the enemy. Even the most solid 
columns of the infantry, and batteries of cannon, 
were compelled to give way to the intrepid motions 
of our troops." 

Indeed it appeared as if they knew no other 
movement, when an enemy was in their path, but 
to go forward, and make a passage for themselves 
through the hearts of the hostile ranks. 

The whole country, from Yacobova to Biala, 
was strewn with the bodies of the vanquished, to 
the number of five thousand ; and upwards of three 
thousand prisoners were taken in the field, besides 
stragglers brought in from having taken refuge in 
the woods. Two pieces of artillery, and the whole 
of the waggons of ammunition, also became the 
spoil of the Russians. 

Their loss did not amount to more than two 
thousand men, and the only officer of note that fell, 
was General Koulneff. 

Having so far crippled one member of their giant 
enemy, Vigtenstein was making dispositions to at- 
tack another in the person of Macdonald ; but, 
learning that that general had assumed a retrograde 
motion, he preferred keeping in front of the French 
lines at Polotzk, (which still held an advancing po- 
sition) to following the steps of an enemy on his 
retreat. 

While the campaign in this quarter was prosecu- 
ted w^ith so much vigour, General Essen remained 
in his camp in the neighbourhood of Higa. It 
might be called a post of observation only, for no- 
thing more was done there, as the lassitude the Prus- 
sian auxiliaries gave no higher tone to the contest. 



53 



Prince Bragation continued to pursue his peril- 
ous march witli an indefatigable spirit that support- 
ed the courage of his men through every hardship, 
and taught them by his example, that the least part 
of a soldier's bravery is that which is evinced in 
the field of battle. The proof of a thorough sol- 
dier, the true militaj-y hero, is found in the toil- 
some and lengthened march, the ceaseless midnight 
watch, the endurance of cold and heat, the priva- 
tion of food and rest ; and all to be borile, not only 
without a murmur, but with a soul resolved to suf- 
fer — to proceed — to conquer— or to die ! 

With such a resolution, Bragation and his brave 
troops pressed on, crossing the river Berezina at 
Bobrousk ; and, proceeding to Novi-Bikofl", kept 
on the right bank of the Dnieper, with the hope of 
reaching Mohiloff without falling in with the ene- 
my. That point once gained, his junction with the 
first army might be effected without any farther 
anxiety. 

General Reifsky, who commanded a part of the 
Prince's advanced guard, arrived at Dashkova on 
the "21st, and on the morning of the 22d he pushed 
forward on the road to Mohiloff. Here he was sur- 
prised by the sudden appearance of an immense 
body of French chasseurs, who drew themselves up 
to stop his progress. He halted not a moment, he 
had but one path, and he took it ; he charged thro' 
them, and dispersing them to the right and left, and 
driving them beyond Novoleski, made a great 
slaughter, and took upwards of one hundred and 
fifty prisoners. From these men he learnt that 
their discomfited corps was the advance of the di- 
vision of the grand army, given to the commands 
of Marshals Davoust and Mortier, who then oc- 
cupied Mohilofi* and its neighbourhood. 

Reifsky dispatched this information to Bragation. 



54 

That Prince thoiigb't the best measiire, under theste 
<:kcumstances, would be to open to himself a near- 
er road to Barclay de Tolly, by attacking the ene- 
my. Great as the effort must prove to bring to 
immediate battle troops so fatigued as his were, 
yet the dangers of a beset and procrastinated march 
appeared to him so much more formidable, that he 
did not hesitate between the opinions, and decided 
for the field. 

Accordingly he formed his line into two columns ; 
one he placed on the right, to stretch along the 
great road ; and the other on the left, was to skill 
n wood, and by crossing a deep i-avine, endeavour 
to come in on the enemy's right, and force him to 
leave open the dkect communication with Mohilot!*. 
In conformity to these orders, the troops passed 
Novoliski, and advanced upon a small village sit- 
uated on a w^et ravine. Here the enemy had post- 
ed himself in orreat force. 

A corps of his infantry occupied a bridge that 
crossed this hollow, and was supported by a larger 
detachment, with several pieces of artillery on its 
right and left. At the head of this bridge was a 
large mill, besides other buildings, which the French 
immediately occupied with a force they deemed 
sufficient to check with their musquetry, the* ap- 
proach of the Russians. 

The Russians advanced, and began the attack. 
It -was supported by the French with an impetuous 
fire that made the contest at this juncture very hot. 
They pressed in redoubled numbers upon the as- 
sailants, but the head of the Russian column met 
them with a persevering resolution that drove them, 
at the point of the bayonet, back upon the bridge. 
The mill and the adjoining houses were carried, and 
those who had garrisoned them put to the sword. 
Twelve pieces of cannon were placed by the order 
of Bragation, upon a commanding spot near the mill, 
and instantly opening upon the enemy, who at- 
tempted to come to the relief of his troops, on the 



T)nd£je, made a great sJaii^liter. This cannonade^ 
and the active valour of the Russians, which pres- 
sed the enemy in every quarter, at last prevailed, 
and drove him, not only from the bridge, but from 
liis post on the opposite bank. 

Marshal Davoust finding himself thus forced, 
and even his cannon seized, feared the effect of this 
day's battle on his master's cause. He saw how- 
far the unshaken determination of Bragation had 
brought the second army on its way to join the im- 
perial standard. He felt the power of that Prince's 
arm, when brought to action, and the victory which 
had now crowned him, filled Davoust with appre- 
hension that Bragation, (unless stopped by extraor- 
dinary exertions,) would march to the point of re- 
union over the dead bodies of every Frenchman in 
the field. To check an advance so destructive of 
Napoleon's designs, and to frustrate the hopes of a 
Prince whose intrepid steps had ever pressed for- 
ward from victory to victory, he dispatched im- 
mediate orders for an immense reinforcement to 
join him from the reserve. 

The Russians aware of their adversary's inten- 
tions, formed themselves under the protection of • 
their gims. Their disposition was good, and their 
resolution strong ; but the career of the enemy's 
cavalry came on with such an overwhelming force,; 
and the infantry advanced in so consolidated a 
body, that they bore along before them the com- 
paratively small corps of the Russians, as the in- 
iiux of the sea would contend with and drive baefe 
upon its bed the stream of a river. 

The Russians tracking their retrograde step^ 
with their blood, found themselves obliged to re- 
linquish their position and to abandon the guns 
they had just taken. But they kept the ground 
which had been first disputed, and by a heavy and 
well-directed fire from their artillery, prevented 
the enemy's regaining the head of the bridge. 

Marshal Davoust seeing the iiJip.ossibilily of 



56 

making the impression he wished while his adver-^ 
sary w^as supported by so efficient a battery, direct- 
ed a column of infantry to pass the ravine higher 
up to the right, and, by coming in upon Bragation's 
left, seize the artillery at the point of the bayonet. 
While this v/as transacting, the Marshal intended 
to take the Prince in his confusion, and push across 
the bridge. 

The French division moved upon the ravine, but, 
unexpectedly to itself, fell in with the forces which 
Bragation had ordered to skirt the wood and keep 
the hollow way. Soon after reaching its opposite 
side, the enemy being thus surprised, was driven 
back with great loss ; but arriving at a very strong 
line of his troops, he there made a stand. The 
conflict now became tremendous on both sides ; the 
Russians fought with so fearless an intrepidity, that 
one might have thought they deemed themselves in- 
vulnerable, and the French continued puring in 
their numbers as if they were infinite. 

The Prince found that his Iroops on the left w^ere 
possessed of the opposite bank, but seeing the pro- 
bability of their being overpowered, if he should fail 
in driving back the enemy, he made so vigorous a 
charge, that for one moment the vast body before 
him seemed shook to its centre, but in the next, its 
overwhelming ranks rushed forward, and their wide 
extent fast closing around him, he saw no other re- 
source but to fall back. To this end he called off 
his left column, which was maintaining its ground 
with the most brilliant acts of bravery, and, order- 
ing a retrograde movement along all his lines, drew 
ofi' his artillery, and covered his motions with his 
light troops and cavalry. The latter, from the na- 
ture of the ground, during the contest had never 
been brought into action. 

This hard struggle had lasted ten hours. The 
Prince marched in good order to Stary Bickoff, 
there crossing the Dnieper,"whilst Platoff advanced 
with, all rapidity, to gain the road leading from 



57 

Mohiloff to Mastilbw. His object was to prevent 
Davoust from incommoding liis left on this route. 

The loss of the Russians on this day was not less 
than three thousand killed and wounded, and that 
of the enemy might be between three or four thou- 
sand, with about five hundred prisoners who were 
taken early in the contest. 

Bragation now proceeded without molestation. 
On the 6th of August he reached the Dnieper at- 
Katane, where he passed it, and, taking up a posi- 
tion at Nadva, thus formed the left of the great ar- 
my. In his w^ay, he had left detachments at Kras- 
noy, under the command of General Neverofsky, 
to intercept the enemy, in case he should push on to 
Smolenzk by that road. 

Platoflf had, some time before, crossed to the 
right bank of the Boristhenes and joined the cov- 
ering army of Count Palhen on the Lubavitch and 
Inkovo roads. The former, with his usual activity, 
never allowing any occasion to pass of annoying 
the enemy, discovered a French force in the vicini- 
ty of his new quarters, which he attacked and de- 
feated, taking upwards of five hundred prisoners, 
and leaving dead on the field a nmnber not inferior. 
It proved to be a party of Murat's corps, comman- 
ded by General Sebastiani, and stationed at Inko- 
vo. The Russian General speaks of this affair, in 
his reports, with little emphasis ; he merely notes 
it as an advantage en train j but from the discom- 
fited enemy's account, we find that it was a matter of 
more consequence ; he acknowledges that it forced 
him to retreat a whole day, and that, besides a loss 
at once, in prisoners, of half a battalion, above 
twelve hundred fell, killed and wounded, in the 
field. Platoff 's loss did not amount, in all to three 
hundred. 

It had been the first ihtentfon of the Commander- 
in-chief, Barclay de Tolly, that the first and sec- 
cond armies, after their junction, should occupy 
the country on the right bank of the river ; but the 

8 



i 

enemy having moved several of his corps towards 
Teolino, and others being in the act of passing the 
river ot Dubrovna in their way to Laidy, it became 
necessary for the Russians to make an opposing 
movement. 

Accordingly, the second army was ordered to 
repass the Dneiper, which it did on the 10th with- 
out a moment's delay, at Katane. 

Bragation then leaned his right upon that river, 
stretching across the main road, and occupying 
Bolkovo, Lukerchino, and Abrazivo. He also 
sent reinforcements to his advance at Krasnoy and 
its neighbourhood. In this position he hoped to 
repose his wearied troops for at least a few hours. 
His late march had been long, anxious, and harass- 
ing. War had followed, surrounded, and met him : 
through all this he had persisted in his progress, 
and, necessarily fighting his way in many actions 
with the enemy, his troops, now came to the point 
of junction, needed and expected a little time in 
which to recruit their exhausted strength. His 
army had suffered materially in many respects. It 
now amounted to no more than five-and-thirty 
thousand men ; a great reduction from its numbers 
at the commencement of the campaign.^ 

In the first place, a detachment of eight thou- 
sand men, finding their station untenable, and the 
impossibility of rejoining their main body under 
Bragation, were forced to attach themselves to the 
division of General TormozofF. To subtract still 
more from the Prince's marching strength, a disaf- 
fection prevailed amongst the Poles under his com- 
mand, and at various times and opportunities, more 
than ten thousand of these men deserted the Russian 
standard. Then the loss in killed, wounded, and 
casualties, was by no means inconsiderable ; and, in 
consequence of all these circumstances, notwith- 
standing his care, his courage, and his prudence,, 
the Prince could not bring up more than half of 
his original army to the banks of the Dneiper.. 



T.liis force, and Barclay de Tolly's logelber, did 
not present an army of more than one hundred and 
thirty thousand men to oppose the countless le- 
gions of the French now in their front, and who 
were headed by Napoleon himself. Tlie French 
leader had refreshed his troops by a long rest, and 
exulting in their vast superiority of numbers, and 
the promises of bis own ambition, be seemed pre- 
paring for an immediate victory. 

His bead-quarters were still at Vitepslc, where 
was also planted a very strong reserve. The other 
.divisions occupied the following places : 

On his left was Beauharnois, stationed at Sou- 
racbe. His advance Vv'as at Yetiebe, Poryatcbi and 
Osveatb. 

Marshal Ney was at Leu7.na. 

Murat's corps of cavalry, light artillery, &;c. 
were in advance at Nicoiino, Kudnia, and Inkovo. 

Davoust and Mortier were on the left bank of 
the Dneiper, at Dubrova. 

Prince Poniatofsky bad orders to move from his 
post at Mobiloff, and remain at Romanoff to 
strengthen Davoust. 

Thus stood the two opposing armies on the 
eleventb of August, 



During these respective movements, the Empe- 
ror Alexander's attention was engaged in providing 
reinforcements from bis own empire to support its 
armament, and in strengthening its position hy trea- 
ties of piece and alliance. Turkey signed its deed 
of pacification, notwithstanding the Macbiavelian 
exertions of the French to prevent it ; and, in spite 
of every intrigue from the same quarter, tbe re- 
imion with England was proclaimed. 

The happy conclusion of tbe tedious, but to. 
Russia, glorious Avar with tbe Ottoman, Avas re- 
ceived by Alexander at the close of the month of 



60 

July, and tlie respective bonds of amity were ex- 
changed at Bucherest. The country was not more 
indebted for the acceleration of this event, to the 
arms than to the wisdom of General Count Kou- 
tousoff the successful commander of the army of 
the Danube. The Emperor shewed the estimation 
in which such services should be held, by conferring 
on him the title of Prince of the Russian empire. 
This venerable hero, full of age and of glory, 
having so honourably terminated the Turkish war, 
and feeling that nature required renovation after 
the fatigues of so many arduous campaigns, quitted 
the cares of a camp, and retired to St. Petersburgh, 
there to repose in the bosom of his family, and to 
enjoy with virtuous satisfaction the gratitude and 
the congratulations of his countrymen. 

On this illustrious veteran's resignation, the ar- 
my of the Danube devolved on Admiral Tchicha^ 
goff. He had been deputed by the Emperor to 
assist in the negotiation for peace with Turkey, 
and that point being gained, when KoutousofF re- 
tired, his Imperial Majesty commissioned the gal- 
lant Admiral to fill that General's military station. 
It may seem extraordinary that a seaman should 
be placed in so eminent a post in the land ser- 
vice. But the comprehensive talents of Tchicha- 
goff, the wide grasp ^ilf his abilities and acquire- 
ments in all that relates to the art of war, wiiether 
on the ocean or in the field ; and his known pres- 
ence of mind and activity in situations of difficul- 
ty, were sufficient to justify to the whole empire 
the choice of the Emperor in this respect. 

Tchichagoff had scarcely been in possession of 
his new duties, when circumstances called upon 
him to put to the proof his talents for a command 
so totally different from any he had hitherto held ; 
and to accomplish which requires the most perfect 
military skill, viz. a long march, and all the various 
movements of armies. He received orders to lose no 
time in bringing his troops up from the banks of 
the Danube and the Prout, to those of the Boug. 



61 

The enemy had a strong corps on the Bong, 
chiefly composed of Aiistrians under Prince Swart- 
'zenberg, and Saxons under Renier ; the whoh?, 
probably amounting to forty thousand men. The 
Austrians having passed the river in the vicinity of 
Droggitchin, advanced to Proiijany and Pinsk, and 
moving through Sloutzk, by slow marches ap- 
proached Minsk. 

Renier and his Saxons, on the retreat of Braga- 
tion, moved on to Slonim, and occupied that town, 
and also Proujany and Kobrine. 

It has already been mentioned that a body of 
troops, amounting to eight thousand men, under 
the command of General Kamenskoy, had been 
cut off from the second army, and that the General> 
seeing no alternative, determined on making an at- 
tempt to join the troops of Tormozoff, who, he 
judged, must then be at Loutzk. Being aware 
that every moment, in the prosecution of this en- 
terprize, was of inestimable value, and finding that 
the enemy were in possession of the whole of the 
country on his left, he saw the probability of their 
pushing forward to block up the ground between 
Brest-Litoff and Kobrine. This would complete- 
. ly ruin his project. And not to give them time for 
such a movement, he advanced with all the rapidi- 
ty in his power, and to his ^^d surprise, on ap- 
proaching Kobrine on the 26th of July fell in with 
a small detachment from the army of observation, 
under Count de Lambert. This fortunate junc- 
tion not only placed him in security, but enabled 
him and his new colleague to form a plan of ad- 
vancing together, and of driving the enemy from 
Kobrine. 

Their reconnoitering parties, as well as the pea- 
santry, brought them information that the town 
was occupied by the advanced guard of the Saxons, 
but in no very great force, under the command of 
General Klingel. 



62 

When the Russian forces drew near the enemy's 
quarters, they observed the negligence of the Sax- 
ons in guarding the town, in short they seemed in 
the most perfect security against the idea of any 
attack. Kamenskoy instantly issued orders that 
the whole of the troops should cross the small river 
Monyavitz, and that the assault should be made 
in three different points. The command was no 
-sooner given than obeyed. 

The attack began by the Russians charging the 
detachment on the bridge, and making them pris- 
oners. This post was about a werst from the city. 
Having gained this advantage without opposition, 
the little army advanced. One division, of four 
thousand men, proceeded on the high road, directly 
to the town, where it met with and drove back a 
party of the enemy, who by this time had taken 
alarm. The rest of the Russian troops moved to 
the right and left, coming in upon the great roads 
leading towards JBrest-Lotoffsky and Pintzk. The 
enemy was now assaulted at all points, and being 
thus hemmed in so unexpectedly, a most desperate 
and sanguinary conflict ensued, which lasted nine 
hours. The various acts of extraordinary bravery 
displayed on both sides, produced a terrible car- 
nage, the horrors of\vhich became more conspicu- 
ous from the narrolfeess of the ground on wh^ch 
the combatants contended. " 

General Klingel, seeing the greater part of his 
forces either killed or wounded, and his best offi- 
cers falling around him, determined to save the rest 
by an immediate surrender to the victors. 

Thus was the day won. And the fruits of it to 
the Russians v/ere eight pieces of cannon, with four 
standards ; and the commander of the Saxon di- 
vision, with sevienty officers, and two thousand five 
hundred men, taken prisoners* The enemy had 
more than a thousand killed and wounded. The 
Russian troops also suffered, but not so severely, 
losing only three or four hundred men, including 
one colonel and ten officers. 



63 

Not'many days after the achievement of this bril- 
liant affair, Major General Tchaplitz entered Ko- 
brine at the head of a considerable corps ; beins: 
the advance of the main body under Tormozoff. 
He had been apprised of the Auslrians having 
moved towards Minzk ; and fdetermined to attack 
the corps of Saxons left to occupy the country they 
had quitted, he directed his march to Kobrine ; 
and there found his intentions had been most advan- 
tageously prevented by the execution of the same 
plan, by the brave Kamenskoy and de Lambert. 
To pursue this success, he ordered Tchaplitz to 
hasten his march, and in conjunction with the two 
victorious Generals, proceed upon Slonim. Tor- 
mozoff >vould then fbllovv^ \Yiih the remainder as 
quickly as possible. 

According to these orders, the united division* 
put themselves in motion ; and advanced, without 
molestation, to within a few w^ersts of the city, 
where they discovered the enemy in great strength. 

Renier on being acquainted with the discomfit- 
ure of General Klingel, dispatched a courier to 
Prince Swartzenberg, directing him instantly to 
measure back his steps that a sufficient force might 
be collected to oppose the successful Russians. 
The re-union being made, the army put itself in 
motion ; and falling upon the Russian advance,, 
compelled it to take a backward direction. 

Meanwhile General Tormozoff had proceeded 
as he intended, and taken up a position on a line of 
heights between Kobrine and Proujany. In his 
front, and on his right, he had a deep morass ap- 
parently impassible. At the edge of it was situat- 
ed the village of Goroditzka ; from which project- 
ed a long dyke that led to the foot of the Russian 
position. His left stretched towards the little town 
of Podubrie, being strengthened by nearly thir- 
ty pieces of cannon. These artillery at the same 
time commanded this approach, and another of a 
sin)ilar nature, which crossing the morass near Po- 



64 

dubrie, I'an into ti defile leading to Che road wiiich 
communicated with that of Kobrine. Thus pro- 
tected, TormozofFjudged himself so advantageous- 
ly situated as to be enabled to destroy the greater 
J)art of the enemy, should they attempt to attack 
him by these avenues. In order tagive more secu- 
rity to his left, and to act as a reserve in case of 
necessity, he posted, at some distance in his rear, 
several battalions of infantry, a large body of caval- 
ry, and most of his light artillery. 

Having made these commanding dispositions, he 
did not see occasion to occupy the town of Podu- 
brie, which was situated some distance on the op- 
posite defile ; neither did he place any forces in a 
wood, which was a little in its rear, and stretching 
along the back of the high road leading to Ko- 
brine, occupied a considerable portion of ground. 
He supposed that both places were sufficiently safe 
from any attempt of the enemy ; as the command- 
ing situation of the heights he filled, and the domi- 
neering station of his artillery, seemed to denounce 
destruction on even the most distant approach of a 
hostile force. 

The allied troops, at this point, were as deter- 
mined as the Russians Avere resolute. They stea- 
dily took possession of the village of Groditzka, 
and the mouths of the defiles leading to the dykes. 
Their right was commanded by Renier, and their 
left by Prince Swartzenberg. The former soon 
learnt from his reconnoitering parties that the Rus- 
sian General had neglected to occupy Podubrie, as 
well as the wood covering the high road to Kobrine. 
Renier lost no time in profiting by this oversight ; 
and taking possession of both, filled the former with 
cavalry, and the latter with formidable bodies of in- 
fantry and artillery. While these orders were obey- 
ing, he apprised Swartzenberg of the omission on 
the part of the opposing General, and begged in- 
stant reinforcements, to enable him to attack the 
Russian left, and drive it from its elevated position. 



65 

The v/liole of the day of the eleventh of August 
was thus employed by the allied troops in seizing 
the neglected advantages ; and marching with the 
greatest caution towards the point Avhich they 
deemed the most vulnerable on their adversary's 
side. 

From the concentrated position of General Tor- 
mozoff, and his supposed security in that position, 
the enemy found little difficulty in making all his 
movements unobserved. He placed a strong force 
on the left of the Russians, destined to issue from 
the wood at different points, and to form on the 
intervening ground ; whence they were to advance 
in firm battalion to put in execution the whole of 
their General's plan. 

Accordingly, at day-break, on the twelfth of the 
month, Tormozoff was astonished by the informa- 
tion that the enemy was approaching from the 
wood on his left, and endeavouring to form on the 
low ground. The surprise was only that of a mo- 
ment ; for the Russian General immediately seized 
on the only means to remedy the consequences of 
his too great confidence in his position ; and order- 
ing a heavy battery to open upon the collecting ranks 
of the allies, sent to his reserve to advance in rear 
of his left, and present an intimidating front to the 
enemy. Even this he did not deem sufficient for the 
occasion, but he strengthened his line with troops 
from his right. 

These dispositions were prompt. A trem.endous 
fire from the Russsian guns, and their infantry, 
poured upon the heads of the allied forces ; yet 
they stood all with firmness; formed, and advanced 
confidently to the attack, supported by light artil- 
lery and horse. 

Their courage met with as brave a reception, 
and the charges on both sides were sustained and 
renewed with the most unshaken obs'tinacy. Incal- 
culable numbers now appeared to issue from the 
wood in every direction ; and notwithstanding the 

9 



68 

incessant cannonade from the Russian battery 
mowed down liundreds as they emerged from th^ 
trees, the survivors rushed on, dauntless;, to thp 
succour of the foremost legiorts, who were already 
falling beneath the bayonet and musketry of their 
opponents. The conflict, on this spot, was that of 
man to man ; every heart as well as arm, seemed 
engaged in the contest, and to shed its last drop to 
purchase the victory. But reinforcements throng- 
ed in on the side of the French ; they seemed end- 
less : and the Russians, calling up a double portion 
of spirit to oppose so great a superiority in body, 
exerted themselves to almost preternatural strength^ 
to drive their adversaries back into the wood. 
They were received with as resolute a courage ; 
and the combatants parted not on this spot, till 
both were mingled in wounds and death on the 
same earth. 

While General llenier thus determinately pur^ 
sued his object, nothing doubting that it would 
finally lead him to the possession of the heights ; 
j'rince Swartzenberg, perceiving that the Russians- 
directed their chief attention to the defence of their 
left, thought it well to distract their movements 
fey making an attempt to pass the morass. To thi% 
ditty he detached a considerable body of infantry,, 
but the project failed. The men sunk at every 
step, and became so entangled in the boggy ground 
as to be unable either to advance or return ; and thus 
fell an easy prey to the well-directed fire of the 
Russian musketry. 

Notwithstanding the disappointment of this re^sfo. 
measure, the hopes of the enemy were not in the 
least damped, he contieued the most unintermitted 
endeavours to turn the Russian left ; and, by means, 
of fresh troops, extended his own right far enoughy 
he believed, to outflank his adversary. In fact^ 
nearly the whole of the allied forces had been suc- 
cessively brought up to this object. 

Finding that the enemy was thus powerfullj 



67 

enabled to continue the attack, tlie Russian Geiie- 
i-al thought it prudent to change his front. To 
effect this, he called out several strong divisions to 
his support, from his right; aiid also brought up 
fresh cavalry and artillery, which be ordered to 
riiarch on the left of the unbroken reserve ; arid 
present by these mancfeuyres, a very extended 
flank. This inenacing line he made yet more for- 
midable, by strengthening if with every corps he 
could safely spare from his centre and his right. 

Renier, seeing that the Russian General was not 
backward in preparing means to counterbalance 
his augmented powers, redoubled his efforts to win 
the day al any sacrifice ; aiid, if possible, the bat- 
tle became more desperate and sanguinary. He 
attempted, at the point of the bayonet*, to dislodge 
^he Russians from the new position they had as- 
sumed, bui in vain. A great part of the French 
artillery was dismounted by the retaliation of their 
enemy ; and after miany fruitless efforts of the alli- 
ed troops to make an impression, they were forced 
back with ^ slaughter that was horrible. The Rus- 
sian cavalry, not failing to take advantage of this, 
charged them to the very skirts of the wood. The 
day began to close fast. Yet the losses of the, 
^nemyonly seemed to add to the determination of 
their General. Renier again advanced with the re- 
mains of his discomfited troops ; but he did not bring 
^fiem alone. They were supported \)j six fresli 
battalions of infantry, and several regiments of 
Austrian hulans, hussars, and Saxon horse ; and so 
efficient an accession to his strength, filled him Avith 
confidence that before darkness should cover the 
dreadful events of the day, he should be able to 
overpower his conquerors, and not merely drive, 
but precipitate them from the long-contested heights. 
Again the carnage was renewed. The Russian 
dflillery seemed to rain fire upon the last effort of 
their still ^ruggling enemy ; and nothing but niglit 
separated the combatants. 



68 

The allies took up their former position at Po- 
dubrie : and General Tormozoff, having repulsed 
the enemy in so many attacks, decided upon retir- 
ing to Kobrine. To effect this before dawn, or- 
ders were issued to drdw off the artillery, and to 
put the whole army into motion, leaving a strong 
detachment on the tield to cover their movements, 
in case, when morning broke, the enemy should 
venture to renew hostilities. Tormozoff's measures 
were taken so well that his troops reached their 
place of destination within the time ; and the rear 
guard joined them with the rising sun, without 
having met more annoyance from the allies than 
seeing their hovering squadrons at a distance. Re- 
nier no sooner perceived that Tormozoff had left 
the heights, than he made a show of follov/ing him ; 
but from the severe proof he had already received 
of Russian resistance, he did not attempt any thing 
serious to impede his advance. Tormozoff and his 
brave legions therefore arrived without firing 
another musket, on the banks of the Machawitz, 
After passing over the bridge on that river, they 
destroyed it in spite of the exertions of the enemy, 
who, the moment he was aware of the Russian de- 
sign, brought up a few pieces of artillery ; but 
without effect, as Tormozoff saw his men proceed 
and accomplish their work with determined coolness. 

The loss of the Russians on this memorable twelfth 
of August, amounted to four thousand killed and 
wounded ; and that of the enemy under Renier and 
Prince Swartzenberg to upwards of five thousand 
men, besides three hundred that were taken prisoners. 
Several officers of rank were wounded on both 
sides, but none fell of particular note. 



General Essen, who commanded the army of 
Riga, had long since put that fine city into a state 
of preparation to stand a siege. Its magnificent 

T 



69 

suburbs were levelled with the ground ; and every 
obstacle displaced that could impede the fire from 
its fortifications, or facilitate the approaches of an 
enemy. The garrison had been greatly augmented ; 
and as strong a force as could be spared, was sta- 
tioned under the orders of Essen himself, as a co- 
vering army, in the environs. 

To give additional strength to these dispositions, 
he sent General Lewis, with several battalions of 
infantry, a considerable corps of artillery, a regi- 
ment of hulans, a body of Cossacs, and a heavy 
force of dragoons, to occupy Eckau, and to post 
themselves in the neighbourhood of Bouske. 

The Pi'ussians had been stationed between Mit- 
tau and Riga, under the immediate command of 
General Grawart, and formed a part of General 
Macdonald's division, whose head-quarters were 
then at Yacobstadt. Finding that the ^Russians 
had advanced and possessed themselves of Eckau, 
Grawart feared that their force might so accumu- 
late as to cut off his direct communication with 
Macdonald. To prevent this, he determined to 
attack them before their reinforcements could ar- 
rive -y and, if possible, compel them to fall back 
upon Riga. 

With this intention, he ordered a chosen corps of 
his troops to proceed to the quarter occupied by 
the Russians. On the morning of the eighteenth of 
July, several bodies of Prussian hussars were dis- 
covered reconnoitering close to the outposts of 
General Lewis. They were no sooner perceived 
than attacked by a few squadrons of hulans, who 
obliged them to retire, leaving many prisoners in 
their hands. 

This rencontre gave information to the Russians 
of the formidable advance of the enemy ; for it was 
immediately followed by the knov/ledge of the 
great strength in which he was approching. One 
division, from the neighbourhood of Kanken, and 
covered by General Kliest, came on to the left, and 



70 

seemed determined by its menacing position to take 
possession of the ground occupied by the Russians* 
Another division posted itself on the high road 
leading to Eckau, whence it was to move at a cer- 
tain time upon the right and centre. 

General Essen was not intimidated by these 
threatening demonstrations, but redoubling his pre- 
parations for resistance, awaited the attack with an 
feager courage, impatient of delay. 

ISo sooner had the Prussian left column present- 
ed itself to the contest, than it was greeted by fC 
sweeping fire from a strong battery on a height thait 
covered the right flank of the Russians. At the 
same instant their cavalry rushed forward, and 
charged a party of hulans, who were stationed near 
the ifentrance of a narrow defile, to prevent the 
Russian horse falling on the Prussian infantry. 

The c^'nnonade doing much execution on thel 
Prussian left column, General Kliest thought it ne- 
cessary to begin his closer movements by falling 
suddenly upon the Russian left. The firmness with 
which he was received, rather checked the force of 
his charge ; but he persisted again and again to' fd- 
new the attstck, till an assault, continued for s6v'^- 
ral hours, and as resolutely repulsed, proved to 
liim that to shake the firm station his adversary had 
assumed was impossible. Every foot of ground 
was disputed in every part of the fields with an ad- 
mirable resolution. But General Lewi&, findilig 
his right very hardly pressed by a division of fhd 
enemy just refreshed by new reinforcements, tho't 
it prudent to draw off his troops, and take a pos£ 
nearer Riga. This he effected in such good 
order, and with so commanding a front, that the^ 
Prussian General did not venture to follow him. 
He took up his station at Dalenkirge. 

This was the first affair in which the Priissiah^ 
were compelled to enter the lists against their an-» 
cient ally; and the rencontre had been 6f a; kind, 
(although the Russians left them in quiet po^sessiori 



71 

of the disputed ground) that gave theoi no wish to 
hurry again into a similar trial of martial prowess. 

The loss on this occasion was not great on either 
side. The Russians had about six hundred killed 
and wounded; and the Prussians lost nearly the 
same number. 

After this affair, the troops of both states, re- 
mained for nearly a month without any action of 
consequence taking place between them. Mean- 
while the French forces in the vicinity of Schlock, 
received augmentations ; and reports were in circu- 
lation that the besieging train of heavy artillery 
from Bantzic was on its march, in order to com- 
mence immediate operations against Riga. Indeed 
General Essen received positive information that a 
corps from the French reserve in Germany, had 
set out towards his station, to attack him, and as- 
sist in the proposed siege. He was also told that 
this detachment was so strong as to render the pre- 
sence of the Prussians no longer necessary ; and 
that on its arrival, they w^ere to proceed to Dina- 
huxg to join Macdonald. 

Esaen, aware that should the French reinforce- 
ment come up while the Prussians remained un- 
broken in their present position, he should be con- 
strained to fight at a terrible disadvantage, deter- 
mined to, at least, disconcert part of the plan, by 
immediately attacking the Prussians, and to leave 
no effort unexerted to drive them back upon Mittau, 
and to the opposite bank of the Aa. 
' The enemy had stationed himself well. The 
situation was particularly commanding on his right, 
being at a short distance from the town of Eckau, 
aaid crossing the high road near Draken, which place 
was occupied by his troops. The position was 
rendered still stronger by entrenchments v/ell fur- 
nished, with artillery. His centre was equally well 
secured ; as its left was flanked hj the Mouss, a 
branch of the river Aa. There was also a conside- 
rable corps placed between these stations and the 



Lake Babite ; thus forming a link of conimuBicat-» 
tion with those near Schlock. 

The Prussians being thus marshalled, General 
Essen deemed the most successful point of attack 
v/ould be on their right, and to this he directed his 
whole manoeuvres. He ordered a corps under the 
command of General ViliamofF, to make a false 
charge upon the centre ; hoping, by this stroke, to 
induce the enemy to dispatch troops from his fianks, 
to its support. Meanwhile he had directed that a 
formidable division of gun-boats, filled with troops, 
(which had arrived a few days before from Dina- 
mond, imder Admiral Yon MoUer) should disem- 
bark part of their men, who were to assist in dis- 
lodging the Prussians from Schlock, whilst the flo- 
tilla should proceed up the river to take them in 
flank and in rear. 

With such arrangements General Essen pro- 
mised himself the completion of his most sanguine 
hopes ; and his army sympathizing with their 
commander, on the 23d of August, advanced in 
the highest spirits to the attack. It began from the 
left with great fury ; and in defiance of all the de- 
fences of art and of bravery, the Prussian entrench- 
ments w^ere carried by the Russians at the point of 
the bayonet. But here again w^as to be made man- 
ifest the error of a headlong pursuit ! The intre- 
pid Russians, as eager in victory, as resolute in ac- 
quiring it, leaping the Avorks they had so bravely 
won and follow ing up with breathless ardour their 
retreating foo, laid open their own ranks ; and a 
large body of Prussian cavaky perceiving the ad- 
vantage, rushed in upon them, and taking them in 
the disorder incident to a pursuit, made a terri- 
ble slaughter. Notwithstanding the surprise of 
this assault, and the great power of a fresh body 
of troops, over a corps of infantry fatigued from 
their late achievement, though full of exulting bra- 
very, the Russians receded not from the field of 
iheir victory till it w^as strewed with their bleeding 



73 

bodies; and tlien with a constant contest though 
a backward step, they gallantly and slowly retreat- 
ed beyond their lines of defence. 
' This turn in favour of the enemy* gave him time 
to rally through all his ranks, and to return to his 
guns* His right which had suffered so severely, 
was now supported by an addition of eight pieces 
of flying artillery, which General GraAvart brought 
up with admirable promptitude. Battle was again 
offered, and With an air of triumph, by the allies, 
which only roused the valour of the Russians to 
redoubled exertions. The fight commenced with 
fury. The Prussians conducted themselves with 
bravery and skill, but the Russian energy at last 
fully prevailed ; and crowned with complete suc- 
cess, they saw the discomfited flank of the enemy 
assume a retrograde movement, and then fairly 
abandon the field. It was soon followed by the 
Prussian centre, which had suffered but little, ha- 
ving been only slightly engaged, and that with 
the feint of General Yiliamoff. 

At this juncture news was brought to General 
Essen, that circumstances had proved so adverse 
to the commander of the flotilla, he could not pro- 
ceed further with his forces than Schlock; but that 
he had obliged the enemy to retire from that place, 
and had now taken possession of it himself, as he 
found it impossible to carry his boats farther up 
the Aa. By this failure on his part, (though not 
his fault) the assistance of the flotilla being deni- 
ed to General Essen, one part of that officer's plan 
was frustrated. His intended operations on the 
enemy's right were entirely prevented ; but as those 
on his left had succeeded in driving him back to 
Mittau, Essen was reconciled to the disappoint' 
ment of one part, by the glorious success of the 
other. 

The Russians in this affair took six hundred and 
fifty prisoners, besides a great many officers not 
included in that number. The total loss, in killed. 

10 



and wounded, of the enemy, amounted to nearly 
one thousand five hundred ; and on the part of 
Russia, about six hundred killed and wounded. 

li is a singular fact that although no official de- 
claration of peace between Great Britain and the 
Russian Empire had at this time been published, 
nor even publicly rumoured, yet arrangements 
w^ere carrying on between the countries as if in 
the full confidence of such an amity. We find 
British armed vessels acting in concert w^ith those 
of Russia, ever since the 20th of July, 1812 ; and 
in the report made by Admiral Von Moller, ta 
General Essen, on that expedition, and during his 
contest with Swartzenberg and Renier, he says, 
** There were six armed English vessels, under the 
command af Captain Stuart, detached up the river 
Aa, while ten of our gun-boats landed a thousand 
troops to attack the enemy who occupied the towB 
®f Schlock and its environs." 

Whatever secrecy with regard to the grand ob-* 
ject, had been maintained during the time of nego- 
tiation, this circumstance was a sufficient advertise- 
ment to the pubJic that such kindly dispositions^ 
were afloat between the tw^o states, as must ere long 
proclaim to the world a re-union, w^hich has ever 
been the wish, as it is the interest of both people. 

Sweden was the scene of this happy adjustment, 
Mr. Thornton, our Minister at that court, w^as to 
act for England in that momentous discussion ; 
and the event has shewn how well he merited the 
trust reposed in his abilities. General Von Suck- 
teline appeared on the part of his Imperial Majesty 
Alexander. And these two distinguished individ- 
ualSj (empowered by their respective royal masters 
to restore, on the foundation of truth and honour^ 
the ancient friendship between their countries,, 
from its late suspension) had the happiness to fulfil 
their high mission to the satisfaction of their sove- 
reigns, and with the gratulations of all their fellow- 
subjects- 



75 

As soon as this re-union, on which the liberties of 
Europe seem to have depended, was brought to its 
accomplishment, the happy tidings were made 
public by the following ukase, which was dispatch- 
ed to St Petersburgh, to Moscow, and to all the 
cities of the Imperial dominions : 

"The PEACE WITH ENGLAND, so gene- 
rally and so long desired, is at length re-established. 
We hasten to announce it, knowing that it has been 
ardently the wish of our faithful subjects, as of 
England herself. Feeling acutely for the decay 
into which our commerce fell by the disunion of 
the two countries, we lose not a moment in seeking 
to revive it to new energies, by the proclamation of 
an amity so rich in benefits to both parties. Nay, 
we even go before forms, in our tenderness for the 
public good and the public anxiety ; and without 
waiting for the official ratification of the deed of 
peace, we thus open before our people all its ad- 
vantages. Unwilling that more of the summer 
should pass away, without having yielded those 
fruits to the two nations, which only commerce caa 
bring ; We order, from this day, tliat all our ports 
on tJbe Baltic sea, on the White sea, and on the 
Black Sea, shall be Hironvn open to the English 
vessels ; and that every commercial relationship 
may instantly recommence between our empire and 
that of Great Biitain. 

(Signed) <* Alexander.'* 

" Given at St. Petersburgh, August 4th, O. S. 1812. 

August ieth, N. S. 1812.*' 

It is not possible to describe the universal joy 
with which this proclamation was received. The 
higher orders celebrated the event with every spe- 
cies of social gratulation ; and the lower ranks, 
from the trader to the peasant, evinced their grati- 
tude in honest transports ; which made the Empe- 
ror feel that in signing the peace with England, he 



76 

had bestowed a benefit on his country which pene- 
trated to the hearts of all his people. 

By entering into amicable connections with the 
Porte he had liberated the army of the Danube 
and could now turn its strength upon the common 
enemy ; and by renewing his friendship with Great 
Britain, he had opened to his subjects and his treas- 
ury all the resources of industry and an extended 
commerce. These were blessings to which Alex- 
ander was as sensible as his subjects ; and the joy 
he gave, he participated. Nothing seemed want- 
ing to perfect the happiness of his people, but the 
driving back, to the utmost limits of the empire, the 
invader who now so audaciously menaced its inde- 
pendence. And, to effect this the Emperor, the 
lord, and the vassal, ceased not day nor night to 
join, with one interest in accumulating the armies 
of patriots which were to complete the deliverance 
of their country. 

Every werst the enemy advanced within the 
Russian empire, encreased the hatred of the peas^ 
antry towards him. And every act of affected con- 
ciliation ; every offer which his agents proffered of 
enfranchisement from the command of their lords ; 
every promise of liberty, rewards, and honours 
from the Great Napoleon^ only filled the brave sons 
of ancient Scythia with indignation against the 
seductions of the tyrant, and with a firmer devotion 
to their native lords. 

The spirit of war which the Corsican has intro- 
duced, is one which was never before known in 
Christendom ! A spirit of universal destruction ; 
a spirit of merciless devastation ; a spirit which 
emulates heathen butcheries, and alike slaughters 
men in arms, and men without them, feeble age, 
and helpless women, and infancy in vain stretching 
its innocent hands for pity. This inhuman mode of 
warfare roused the unhappy Tyrolese against their 
murderer ; this sanguinary persecution called forth 
the heavy , vengeance of the Spaniard j and this: 



exterminating system, constrained the Russian to 
repel its attacks witli a sword ruthless as its own. 

It frequently happened that when the prisoners, 
taken in these several rencontres, were on their 
way to be conveyed for security into the interior, 
their guards could hardly preserve them from the 
vehement revenge of the peasantry. And one in- 
stance where their indignant enthusiasm was al- 
lowed to take the reins, I cannot forbear recording. 

A detachment of French prisoners, conducted by 
a very small escort, having arrived in a village in 
the government of Twer, and bordering upon that 
of Smolenzk, had the address, by superiority of 
numbers and subtility of contrivance, to overpower 
their guard, and seizing their arms, would have 
extirpated them on the spot, had not the peasantry 
risen to their rescue. While one company of 
hardy rustics flew to the succour of the soldiers, 
another rang the alarm-bell of the village ; and the 
military, finding themselves again armed with the 
little arsenal of the village, and backed by its in- 
trepid sons, soon compelled their treacherous ad- 
versaries to cry for quarter ; which was not al- 
lowed to be granted till most of them had fallen a 
sacrifice to their desperate act of folly. But the 
consequences of this minor battle did not end here. 
The noise of the tocsin spread the alarm through- 
out the neighbourhood, and thence to the whole 
government. Nothing less was believed than that 
the French had entered the district in great power. 
The more formidable the report, more eager was 
the zeal to oppose them. Multitudes flocked to- 
wards the scene of action from all quarters ; and 
before the evening closed, nearly nine thousand 
well armed men were arranged under the standards 
of their respective lords. Being under the convic- 
tion that the French had really reached their prov- 
ince, it was with the greatest diflSculty that this mag- 
nanimous people were prevented setting fire to their 
crops of standing corn: " If they are not to be for 



'76 

us," cried they, " they shall not be left for th© 
enemy !" 

Instances of this kind daily presented them- 
selves ; proving that there is no policy so good in 
the end, even to the most selfish man, as a perfect- 
ly disinterested conduct in times of public calami- 
ty ; a sordid attention to individual interest, in 
these critical periods, never fails, by dividing what 
ought to form the collected strength of the whole 
body, to leave the weak parts so exposed to an ene- 
my that he has very little trouble in making them 
his own. It is indeed strange, that we see so few 
instances of this only true political wisdom. We 
find many nations talk of loyality, of liberty, of 
patriotism ; we hear individuals pronounce orations 
on these themes ; but who has proved these subjects 
like the Russian ? It is not every where that men 
are called upon to preserve their country by the 
burning of their harvests, and the conflagration of 
their cities ; but every man has it in his power to 
sacrifice his luxuries to the public good, to immo- 
late his prejudices before the laws and their minisr- 
ters ; and to forget every short-sighted interest, ei^ 
ther of his own or his country's, in that of the 
great object which now agitates the world — ^the 
independence of more than Europe from the yoke 
of a tyrant ! ^ . 



The army of Count Vigtenstein continued to 043r 
cupy the ground it had taken up after the affairs 
of the tenth and eleventh of August. But on his 
having been reinforced by several battalions from 
Dunabourg, he determined no longer to allow Da- 
voust quietly to augment his force in the position 
he at present held close to Polotzk, and which was 
daily strengthening by the judicious labours of his 
engineers. This General was hourly receiving; 
fresh corps of Bavarians and Saxons, and up ixiz 



f9 

considerable detachments from the army of Mac- 
donald. 

When Vigtenstein calculated that his numbers 
were at all adequate to the attack he meditated, he 
put his army in motion. It was on the seventeenth 
of August that he marched them forward in two 
columns. One took the Bielo road, and the other 
the Smolianovo, that they might make themselves 
masters of the advantageous ground on the left of 
the former. This was executed by pursuing a path 
not far from the small town of Gamzeleva, where 
the face of the country becomes elevated, and in- 
tersected by deep defiles. Through these the 
troops were obliged to pass, to form themselves in 
order of battle. A very few hours brought both 
columns to the desired station. 

On the enemy learning the advance of the Rus- 
sians, they moved from their lines of defence, and 
hastened to give him a check before he could reach 
the vantage point, which they judged was his ob- 
ject. But in this they were disappointed : how- 
ever Oudinot lost no time in forming his disposi- 
tions, as he wished to make head against the Rus- 
sians already formed, and prevent those still in the 
defiles from gaining their line. 

The penetrating eye of Yigtenstein frustrated 
these intentions, by dispatching a considerable 
corps of artillery and light troops to cover the 
march of his people through the defiles ; and to 
clear the openings of the enemy, while he moved 
onward with his left supported by some regiments 
of cavalry. 

The rapidity with which the Russian soldiers: 
<>beyed the prompt suggestions of their GeneraFs: 
mind was so amazing, that Oudinot found himself 
baffled in every manoeuvre. In a favourable mo- 
ment Vigtenstein ordered a heavy fire to be open- 
ed upon the unformed masses of the enemy ; and 
they,^ being |in a very exposed situation, found 
themselves oblio;ed to recoil on each other ; thus. 



a temporary escape at the expence of* 
throwing their rear into no inconsiderable disorder* 
Meanwhile, Yigtenstein having brought up a divi- 
sion of flying artillery on his extreme flank, it did 
its duty so effectually as to render the confusion of 
the, French, in that part of the line, almost despe- 
rate. His^iext movement was to order the cavalry 
to attack ; and the shock they gave the only firm 
body of the enemy completely laid his flank open 
to the operations of the Russians. Vigtensteia 
pursued the advantage, and making the signal to his 
heroes they charged with their whole force. At 
this crisis, amidst the multitudes that fell, Marshal 
Oudinot received a dangerous wound in the shoul- 
der, and was carried off* the field. His wound was 
felt to the farthest ranks of his army, for a com- 
plete confusion and carnage ensued along this part 
of the line, which spread dismay to the centre ; 
and communicating to the left, filled all with a con- 
sternation so extreme, that nothing seemed left but 
to retire upon their lines of defence. It was now a 
flight rather than a retreat ; disorder was in every 
rank, fear in every breast ; and as they precipitately 
abandoned the field, hundreds fell beneath the sa- 
bres and bayonets of their pursuers, whilst the dis- 
charge of grape from the artillery swept down all 
before it with a tremendous havoc. 

This victory was achieved by the Russians with 
very little loss on their ^de, but that of the enemy 
was immense. 

Count Yigtenstein having driven them far be- 
yond their entrenchments, chose to occupy that, 
strong ground himself; and on this commanding 
situation, make able dispositions to meet succeeding, 
conflicts. 

When Oudinot was wounded, the command de- 
volved upon General Gouvion St. Cyr ; who, be- 
ing ambitious to have the credit of retrieving the 
honour of the division, lost by the failure of his, 
predecessor, determined to renew" the attaci the, 



81 

next day. To this end he called up every succour 
within his reach, and brought forward every soldier 
at all capable of bearing arms after the sanguinary 
contest of the preceding day. The Bavarians un- 
der Count Wrede, were placed on the right. Saint 
Cyr took the command of the centre in person ; 
giving the left to General Maison, wlip had suc- 
ceeded General Verdier ; the latter omcer having 
been severely wounded in the late affair. 

Though prepared for the enemy, yet, having 
just chastised him so completely, Count Vigtenstein 
did not mean to provoke him to resume hostilities 
immediately; but preferred remaining within his 
lines* He had detached a sufficient force to prevent 
Macdonald from advancing on him from Dinabourg. 
That city, from its comparatively insignificant im- 
portance at the present juncture, had been evacua- 
ted by the Russians ; but not before they had de- 
stroyed every article within it that could be of use 
to the enemy. By withdrawing from that tow^n, 
a valuable accession of troops was enabled to join 
the army on the Dwina. And, owing to the situa- 
tion of the Prussians in the vicinity of Riga, Mac- 
donald dared not with safety break up his means of 
communication either with that corps or the troops 
of Oudinot ; one of which he must have cut off, had 
he formed a junction with either. 

About twelve o'clock at noon on the 18th, Saint 
Cjr began to move, under cover of a strong battery 
of artillery. Thus protected he formed his line, 
and proceeded to the attack. Count Vigtenstein 
allowed him to make these demonstrations without 
interruption. The French General then ordered 
the Bavarians to begin the battle on the right with 
their guns. This was the signal for the cannonade 
to run down the whole line. Both armies being so 
near, and in such complete array for the contest, 
a discharge from the whole of the French infantry 
followed the thunder of their artillery. It Avas an- 
swered by the Russians with equal energy. The 

11 



8g. 

eiieni J bad added to llie strength of his left a well: 
appointed battery on the bank of the Dwina, which 
BOW began its play upon the adverse troops. How- 
ever, the brave Russians regarded it not, but char- 
ged tQ the very mouths of the guns, and with the 
points of their bayonets drove the enemy itt that 
fjuarter back to their reserve. This bold attack was 
supported hy several squadrons of dragoons, who 
followed the advantage, trampling down, and de~ 
stroyingthe French infantry, who now but faintly 
defended themselves. The rest fled to their en- 
trenohments. 

yjgtensteie, meanwhile, plied the centre j but 
here the conflict was f ery severe. It repelled all 
his etforts with the greatest bravery for a conside- 
rable time, but the persevering hei-oism of the 
Russians at last made them give ground, and they 
too fell back towards their lines of defence. The 
right being yet unbroken, defended itself well, and 
many acts of individual bravery were here distin-- 
guished ; but General Wrede seeing all his exer- 
tions unavailing, and that none of the dispersed 
French troops attempted to return to the attack,, 
felt himself obliged, after so long and gallant a 
resistance, to follow the retreating legions ; andy 
like them, take refuge beyond their lines. 

The flight of St. Cyr's army gained its fugitives 
no safety. The Russians, Incensed at the audacity 
of the French General, in presuming to attack them- 
in the manner he did, so immediately on their sig-' 
nal victory over his predecessor, pursued his dis- 
grace with a frightful carnage. So fierce was their 
continued charge upon the flying squadrons, that' 
Ihey not only passed the French lines, putting all 
to death who resisted, but drove the enemy before- 
them into the ver^ suburbs of Polotzky and put 
them to the sword in the streets. Bloody, as great 
was this victory. When night's obscurity rather 
increased than concealed its horrors, Count Vigv 
^enstein commanded the deathful work to ceoi^e.; 



The battle Miad lasted more lliaii 'twelve iioivr*, 
wlieo he ordered his troops to dmw off,- and retire 
to his old. position. The prisoners amounted to 
three tliousand nienj besides thirty officers of vari- 
ous ranks amongst whom were two colonels. The 
enemy left two thousand five hundred killed and 
wounded on the field of battle, independent of those 
who fell in the lines. Fifteen pieces of cannon were 
also abandoned to the victors. The loss on the 
Russian side, during the two days fighting, amount- 
^-d to one thousand in all, hors de combat ; besides 
Generals Berg, Hamen, and Kazatchkovsky, who 
^were woimded. 

Thus ended two desperate attempts of two Gen- 
erals of Napoleon, to accomplish his great object 
of opening a passage for his troops to St. Peters- 
burgh \ one of them, with the loss of half his army, 
had been Vi^ounded almost mortally ; whilst the 
other, in rashly adventuring to impair his discom- 
fiture, only heaped accumulated defeat and dis- 
grace on the arms of his master! 



Napoleon having fully refreshed his troops at 
Vitepsk, and also having received information of 
the approach of new reinforcements from Tilsit, id 
Wilna, again put himself in motion. He ordered 
the coips of Beauharhoig, and of Murat, to march 
upon the Boresthenes on the 13th of August ; the 
first was to cross that river opposite to Rassasna, 
and the latter to pass i'he Beresswinya river and to 
cross the Boresthenes near Hiyomnia. Havino- 
thus concentrated his force, he meditated an iui^ 
inediate advance upon Smoleuzk. 

Barclay de Tolly being informed that the enemy 
Was in this manner drawing together his most ef- 
ficient powers id the vicinity of Doubrovna and 
Rassasna, ordered Prince Bragation to fall back, 
and pass through the city to the Moscow road, and 



84 

there halt at a few wersts distance to await further 
directions. Meanwhile the Commander-in-chief 
would himself, on the 14th of August, break up 
his own position, and retire to the high ground 
which commanded the town on the right bank of 
the Dneiper. 

Scarcely had he executed this movement ere he 
heard from the Generals Rajefsky, and Nererofsky, 
(both of whom had been left at Krasnoy) that they 
had been obliged to assume a retrograde motion to 
within seven wersts of Smolenzk ; and that the 
augmented force of the enemy were coming on to 
offer battle. These generals reported also that, 
early on the 14th, their advanced post at Laidy, 
consisting of Cossacs, had been driven in, and pur- 
sued even to their head-quarters. To do this, a 
large detachment from the enemy's army had been 
sent under the commands of Ney and Murat. They 
reached Krasnoy without difficulty, and fell upon 
the Russian division stationed in its neighbourhood. 
The defence made on the part of the Russians was, 
as usual, bloody and gallant ; but the vast superi- 
ority of the enemy's numbers carried everything 
before them, and Krasnoy was gained at the point 
of the bayonet. 

General Rajefsky retreated to Essennaya, and 
from that place dispatched information to the Com- 
mander-in-chief, of his disaster. The amount of 
Rajefsky's force before this affair was about seven 
thousand men, including two thousand five hundred 
cavalry. He had also twelve pieces of cannon. 
His loss was great ; being upwards of two thousand 
men, in killed, wounded, and prisoners, besides 
several guns. 

On this intelligence Barclay de Tolly reinforced 
the garrison of Smolenzk, and ordered the shat- 
tered remains of Rajefsky's corps, on the approach 
of the enemy, to retire within the fortified lines in 
front of the extensive suburbs. The city, having 
been long in preparation to repel an attack, various 



85 

batteries had been constructed, and every means 
adopted which could add strength to a position so 
favourably situated to check the advance of the 
invader. 

Prince Bragation, in obedience to the commands 
of the Commander-in-chief, passed on to the high 
road leading to Moscow through Dorogabouche, 
where he halted as directed ; but at the same time 
kept detachments of light troops in the neighbour- 
hood of Elnia and Koslavli, to stop the advance of 
the enemy, should he attempt to cut off the Prince's 
communication with the metropolis on that side. 

Barclay de Tolly having thus disposed his Gene- 
rals of divisions, intended to await alone the ap- 
proach of his adversary ; and^ with this view, he 
placed his army on the line of heights, Avhich cover 
Smolenzk on the right bank of the Boresthenes. 
The city was defended by about thirty thousand 
men, who held communication with his main army 
by three bridges which crossed tliat river. 

From the ancient character of the walls which 
encircled Smolenzk, they were found but indiffer- 
ently suited to modern warfare, being flanked and 
bulwarked at different points by high and ill-fash- 
ioned towers ; however, to turn even these to ad- 
vantage, the Russians planted them with several 
pieces of heavy ordnance, sufficient to command 
most of the ways leading through the fauxbourgs. 

The French army continued to approach the 
town in a very menacing attitude, having been re- 
cently augmented by the division under Prince 
Poniatofsky, which had joined them from Moliiloff, 
by the way of Romanoff, on the i5th. By this 
junction, the whole force of the enemy w as direct- 
ed against this city. The possession of it would 
involve many advantages on the side of the French. 
Its acquisition must dislodge the Russians from 
their present commanding station ; which w^as, un- 
questionably, the most favourable ground on which 
they could make a stand belweoD the Boresthenes 



86 



and Moscow ; and, when tliey were driven away, 
•the road would be left free for the advance of Na- 
poleon to the capital of the Tzars. 
« Dear has ever been the tax of pre-eminence. 
Smolenzk was always regarded as a post of the 
highest importance to rival powers. In former 
■ages it had been the object of many hot conten- 
tions, and had known all the evils of war. But 
for a long lapse of time, like a toil-worn hero rest- 
mg amid his offspring, it lay in tranquillity and 
comfort, enjoying its distinction and its repose. 
1 bus was the venerable city of Smolenzk, when 
the blast of invasion reached its walls, and its 
peaceful inhabitants saw the hills which surmount- 
ed them embattled with the protecting ranks of 
their country. Age is the season of timidity. The 
old, and the feeble, woman and child, thought they 
beheld their so lately happy city overclouded by 
all the horrors of war; and, fearful of being ex- 
posed to its cruel consequences, they fled the place 
in every direction. Some sought security in Mos- 
cow, some at Twer, some at Yarrowslaff ; and 
thousands took refuge with the army on the heights. 
Intending from those eminences to remain sad spec- 
tators of the awful moment that was appro achmg 
to make their beloved city the theatre of bloody 
contest. It might be the field of combat, but the 
wisdom of its veterans had taken care that it should 
not be that of spoil ; for immediately on hearing of 
the approach of the French towards their quarters, 
they ransacked the town for all its valuables, even 
to the treasures of the churches, and sent them un- 
der a strong convoy to a place of safety. By this 
precaution private property as well as public, was 
preserved to the rightful owners ; and the enemy 
was deprived of the resources he always looked for 
in plunder. 

Buonaparte had quitted Vitepsk on the 13th of 
August. He reached Korwitinia on the 15th ; and 
on the following day was at the head of his ar- 



87 

my before Smolenzk. He lost no lime in recon-*^ 
noitering both the town and the position whit^i the : 
Russians held on the opposite bank of the river. ; 
He also acquainted himself with the strength of. 
the force which had been left to defend the city. 
This he intended to carry immediately ; and, there-^ 
fore, gave orders for an assault to commence at 
the entrenched suburbs, vrhilst he should endea- 
vour to cut off, by the destruction of the three 
bridges, all succours to the Russians from their 
comrades on the heights. He had little doubt of 
the city soon falling into his hands, and of that ad-j 
vantage being followed by the possession of the 
heights ; as he concluded from the Russian Gene- 
ral not having occupied the left bank of the Dnei- 
per, he woidd, on the logs of the town, abandon 
the hills, and continue his march, in order to seek 
a more favourable spot for a general battle. 

According to these deductions, directions were 
given to Marshal JNfey that he should form his divi- 
sions taking up the ground on the left, and sup- 
porting his flank on the Dneiper. Davoust, plant- 
ed his division as the centre ; and Prince Poni- 
atofsky stationed his on the right. Two reserves^ 
of cavalry and of guards were posted in the rear. 
With the foniier was Murat and Beauharnois ; and 
with the latter Napolean. The army thus form- 
ed, moved forward close upon the Russian front. 

On the morning of August the seventeenth there 
was an awful pause. The armies of two vast em- 
pires stood gazing on each other as if studying 
where to strike the mortal blow : at length the si-^ 
lence of meditated death was broken. From the 
extreme point of the Russian right, to that of their 
left, fire from a hundred cannon poured destruc-* 
tiott amid the enemy's ranks. Rapid discharges 
of musquetry, wdiich ran along their front, second- 
ed the guns with a horrible carnage. 

Ttie attack of the French was not less vigorous 
or terrific. Their numerous artillery save bloodv 



88 

answer to that on the Russian position ; whilst their 
multitude, and concentrating movements, bore 
along upon their adversary with a force that seem- 
ed formed to sweep all before them. 

The troops of Poniatofsky, assisted by corps. of 
cavalry and light artillery, after a hard struggle, 
succeeded in dislodging, from an excellent posi- 
tion, a considerable body of Russians. This ad- 
vantage, so fortunate for the enemy, enabled them 
to throw up a battery on the spot ; which they im- 
mediately opened upon the south bridge, with an 
effect answerable to their Avishes* 

The battle now raged with the most desperate 
fury. In spite of a dreadful fire from the Russian 
artillery, the enemy pushed on to the entrenched 
suburbs, and in the very mouths of the guns at- 
tacked the Russian troops at the point of the bayo- 
net. The havoc on both sides was prodigious. 
The earth was covered with the wounded and the 
dead ; but nothing seemed possible to shake the 
firmness of the Russians. They stood like a rock 
before the repeated attempts of the French to 
break a way through them. For upwards of two 
hours this bloody contest was maintained. Every 
species of assault was levelled by the enemy against 
their undaunted adversaries ; but nothing could 
prevail over their resolution not to yield but with 
their lives. At last their movements were impeded 
by the numbers of the slain ; and finding that ac- 
cessions of hostile troops pressed upon their thin- 
ned ranks, the Russians retired towards Smolenzk ; 
disputing every inch of ground, till the enemy was 
checked by the fire from its ancient towers. 

Barclay de Tolly on seeing that the suburbs on 
the opposite quarter of the town were completely 
forced, and that the city itself was seriously threat- 
ened, determined to defend it, for at least, several 
hours ; in order, to gain time for Bragation's army, 
then on the Mo-scow road, io move on to Dorogo- 



boiiche, where the Commander-in-chief now deci- 
ded on joining it. 

The Russian batteries had been planted to great 
advantage all along the heights. One battery of 
■fifteen pieces of cannon, did much execution upon 
the enemy's right, and drove him from the ground 
he occupied with that part of his artillery which 
had poured so destructive a fire on the upper bridge. 
Another battery of twenty pieces, checked th@ 
enemy in his advance through the suburb connect- 
ed with the St. Petersburgh bridge. 

The city now became the immediate object of 
attack. The fire from its walls, as well as from a 
few loosely constructed works at their feet, kept 
the enemy at bay. But he lost not a moment in 
constructing breaching batteries at different points, 
and so well placed, that a short time only was ne- 
cessary to oblige the troops who manned the trifling 
outworks to leave them to their fate. No resist-^ 
ance was now made to the assailants, but by the 
good old towers and venerable breastwork of the 
city. 

A tremendous fire opened from the French bat- 
teries upon these antique battlements, and gave no 
pause, even when its flashes alone lit the terrible 
darkness of the night. 

The Russian General, meanwhile, ordered an ac- 
tive defence to be kept up, while he made arrange- 
ments for the march of the array to Dorogobouche. 
It was seven o'clock in the evening when the first 
column was put in motion* It was commanded by 
Creneral Toutchkoff, ar\d composed of three corps 
of infantry, and the first reserve of caValry. It 
took the route to Braditchino. At nine, the sec- 
ond column, under the orders of General Dochtor- 
t)ff, composed of two corps of infantry and two of 
cavalry, besides the remains of General Rajefsky, 
proceeded, in a nearly parallel dii'ection, by the 
road leading to Yalkoff'-Postiloff. General Korff, 
with a strong division that occupied the town, and 

12 



the suburb of St. Petersburgb, was tor form th^ 
great rear guard, and to defend himself argainst 
every alttack, until he had advice that the rest of 
the army had cleared the French lines. He waa 
then to destroy all that might be serviceable to the 
enemy, and evacuate the town. Platoff with his 
Cossacs, was to follow this body ; and form a chain 
of detached corps between Proudichi and Doukoff- 
achina. 

The dreadful hours of destruction rolled on ; 
and the ruin and death of thousands became the 
horrible marks of French aggression. Invasion 
was witbotit, patriotism within ; and hosts conlinu- 
ed to fall or* both sides. Many attempts were 
made by the enemy to carry by assault the walls^ 
which were now beginning to give way ; but what 
stone could not withstand, the courage of men 
breasted, and the assailants were repulsed at every 
attack. 

The interior of this once beautiful and flourish- 
ing capital of the government of Smolenzk, began 
to present a scene heart-rending to the eye of a 
<^ommon spectator, but glorious to that of the patri- 
ot. Every magazine was destroyed, every edifice 
fired, whicrh could offer the means of resource to 
the enemy. The inhabitants, (at least all that 
chose to remain behind those who had retired to the 
heights) were the first to put their torches to this 
hard duty. The flames spread rapidly through 
every quarter ; and the houses which were built of 
wood, quickly conducted its direful influences over 
the whole extent of this once fine city, whose cen- 
tre now blazed forth in vast volumes of fire and 
smoke. 

Napoleon in his report of this event, gives a per- 
feet idea of its appearance, in these words : — " In 
the midst of a fine night in August, Smolenzk of- 
fered to the eyes of the French, the spectacle that 
presents itself to the inhabitants of Naplesy during 
an eruption of Yesuvius." 



91 

During the ever memorable defence of the city 
against so superior a force as was then brought 
against it, no troops were more distinguished for 
their unreceding valour and effective service than a 
liirge bodv of the newly-raised Russian militia. 
Its intrepidity and discipline w^ould have added 
fresh lai?^rels to the most veteran brows. 

Two hours after this tremendous conflagration 
commenced. General KorfF destroyed the commu- 
nication with the right bank of the Dneiper, and 
then followed the steps of the leading columns. 
The enemy perceiving that the Russian army was 
In full retreat, and that the firing from the walls 
had gradually subsided, advanced ; and, without 
further resistance, took possession of the city in the 
morning of the 1 8th of August. 

No pen can describe the rage of Napoleon on 
beholding the spectacle which presented itself. — 
The spacious streets were blocked up with ruined 
and falling houses, and magnificent buildings were 
blazing in every direction, threatening the total con- 
sumption of those that remained yet uninjured. To 
preserve some means of quartering his troops, the 
French leader immediately ordered every exertion 
to stop the progress of the flames. The men em- 
ployed in this service, gave themselves little trouble 
in their duty; and aware that the extent of the 
mischief already done would render their disobe- 
dience less observed, instead of attempting to ex- 
tinguish the fires by which they were surrounded^ 
they spread themselves all over the city wherever 
the burning destruction had not seized ; and, en- 
tering the houses and the churches, pillaged what- 
ever valuables they found, and murdered with the 
most unheard of cruelties, all whom accident or 
attachment to their native city had left in their pas- 
sage. Time, therefore, was the sole extinguisher of 
this immense conflagration ; and it was not until 
the evening of the 19tli, that the flames of this sac^ 



92 

rifice expired, and Smolenzk became enshrouded 
in a veil of black smoke. 

Buonaparte had always considered the possession 
of this city as one of his first objects in the Rus- 
sian invasion. Such a station would be full of ad- 
vantage to his troops. Indeed he was so thorough- 
ly aware of its utility, that he thus expresses him- 
self on the subject ; 

" Smolenzk may be considered as one of the 
finest cities in Russia, and of the most commanding 
situation. Had it not been for the circumstances 
of war, which involved it in flames, and consumed 
its magazines filled with merchandize, this city 
would now be regarded as one of the richest re- 
sources of our army. But even in its present ruin- 
ed state, it puts us in possession of a formidable 
military post, and its remaining buildings afford 
excellent hospitals for the sick/* 

The French leader was not more sensible of the 
value of the treasures contained in Smolenzk, than 
were its inhabitants ; and to disappoint him of their 
use, what could not be removed, they sacrificed to 
the preservation of their country. To these pat- 
riots nothing seemed too precious to resign for so 
dear a stake. Whether it be wealth or even bread 
from their lips, or the roof that sheltered them, or 
the vital blood of their hearts, all were deemed as 
nought in comparison with the venerated laws of 
their empire, their fealty to their lords, and their 
independence from threatened usurpation. What 
can man lay down more than his life, in evidence of 
.his principle ? And this the Russian, from the 
prince to the peasant, was ready, and did lay down, 
in the cause of the empire and of the world. 

Napoleon, in passing over the ashes of these sac- 
rifices at Smolenzk, was often heard to exclaim, 
never was a war prosecuted with such ferocity ! 
Never did defence put on so hostile a shape against 



93 

the common feelings of self-preservation ! 1 liesc 
people treat their own country as if they were its 
enemies !" 

But in some cases there is no defence unless we 
put all to the hazard, and immolate a part to pre- 
serve the wdiole. JN arrow policy is the principle of 
ruin. 

The loss of human lives during this tremendous 
contest was immense. Not less than one hundred 
thousand men must have been engaged in the bat- 
tle, and attack and defence of the town ; and, from 
the obstinacy with which the combat was maintain- 
ed, the deaths became very numerous. Four thou- 
sand fell on the Russian side, amongst whom were 
many brave officers, though none of distinguished 
name. Their wounded amounted to about two 
thousand. The Russian Commander-in-chief, in his 
report of this affair, observes — " Although our loss 
is so serious, yet we have reason to congratulate 
ourselves that it bears no proportion to the incalcu-^ 
lable loss of the enemy, whose rashness during his 
repeated attacks, threw away the liFes of his mea 
with an indifference not to be credited," 

The French account of their loss is absurdly tri-^ 
fling ; and we can only wonder, when the circum- 
stances of the affair are considered, how the writer 
of it could have the folly to suppose it would be 
believed. He states that Napoleon lost no more 
than seven hundred in killed ! He allows of three 
thousand two hundred Avounded ; but closes the 
bulletin with the exaggeration, that, while the 
French slain were so few, the Russians lost to the 
number of fourteen thousand, seven hundred men ! 

This statement is made in the usual French style ; 
and while we read it, and others relating the small 
damage they incur in even the most sanguinary con- 
flicts, we can only be surprised at finding, in per- 
haps the next report, that this invulnerable band of 
heroes feel the necessity of being recruited. 

Possession of even the burning site of Smolenzk 



94 

was not to be gained on such easy terms. The 
manner of the attack, and the determination of its 
defence, are sufficient evidences that the assailing 
power must have suffered the greater loss in lives. 
The Russians, when the suburbs were attacked, 
were in a great degree covered by their entrench- 
ments, while the enemy's troops were advancing 
for a considerable length of time completely ex- 
posed to the galling and heavy fire of the artillery 
and small arms. It was here that the French fell in 
hundreds. But when the conflict took place in the 
lines, then the entrenchments became heaped with 
their dead and dying. The French report cannot 
hut give some shadow of the truth in this respect. 
It says, " the field of battle presented to the eyes 
of two hundred thousand persons, who can attest it, 
heaps of slain, where the body of one Frenchman 
lay upon the bleeding relics of seven or eight of 
his fallen enemies." 

This representation has only to be reversed, and 
it will be found a true statement of the proportion 
of the slain, giving the greater numbers of the dead, 
as was the fact, to the French side. The informa- 
tion given by Spanish deserters, and prisoners ta- 
ken at the time, leave it beyond a doubt that Napole- 
on lost far more men on that bloody day, than he 
deemed prudent to acknowledge in his bulletins. 
The true report would have been nearer thirteen 
thousand in killed and wounded, than three thou- 
sand ; and in this number we do not include several 
Generals, three of whom Buonaparte owns to have 
fallen. 

Smolenzk was now in the hands of the invader. 
But all the trophies it yielded to his glory were 
its cannon, and the smouldering ashes of its once 
populous streets. He and his Generals took up 
their residence in the episcopal palace, which had 
escaped the flames; and the troops were ordered 
to seek repose in any buildings they might find 



05 

stahding. The churches that remained unhurt, 
were appropriated to the use of the cavalry. 

Had Napoleon entered Russia with the wishes* 
of its inhabitants, this last measure would have 
been sufficient to turn their good will to detesta- 
tion. The sight of a licentious soldiery bursting 
into the holy edifices, tearing down the decorations, 
breaking open the wardrobes, and violating the 
consecrated vestments and vessels of the altar, 
struck to their hearts with amaze and horror. But 
when they beheld the horses pass the sacred thresh- 
old, their vehement indignation is not to be de- 
scribed. Their expressions were answ^erable to 
their feelings ; and the few, who yet survived the 
fate of their city, were made to shed their blood 
with their tears before the doors of their defiled 
churches. 

Such a zeal may appear extravagant to professors 
of a less enthusiastic religion ; and many may turn 
from its emotions and its sacrifices with contempt. 
But it would be well to judge men, not by the 
light we ourselves have received, but by that which 
has been dispensed to them. Objects may be 
wrong, but yet the impulse right. The same spirit 
which confirmed the protestant martyr at the stake, 
who died in evidence of the pure doctrines of 
Christianity, brought the pious son of the Greek 
church to resent at the peril of his life, the pollu- 
tion of the place consecrated to the worship of his 
Creator. God said, " My house is the house of 
prayer, but ye have made it a den of thieves." 
Such a sacrilege was not tolerated by the founder 
of our religion , and it becomes not the disciple to 
pretend to more liberality on this subject than his 
divine Master. 

The honest Russian regards ihe temple of his 
God with a reverence so great that nothing is suf- 
fered to approach its w^alls, that can defile them 
even in idea ; and therefore it is not surprising that 
when the violation of the churches of Sraolenzk 



96 

was kiiown throughout the empire, the hatred of 
the people should be augmented a hundred fold 
against the invader and his sanguinary followers. 



The Russian army, covered by the corps of* 
Generals Korff and PlatofF, continued for many 
hours to move towards its destined point without 
molestation. The precaution of destroying the 
bridges across the Dneiper, for some time prevent- 
ed the advance of the French in the same direc- 
tion. But Napoleon, with his usual promptitude 
had, on observing the gradual withdrawing of the 
llussians from the heights, ordered a bridge to be 
thrown over the river much higher than the site of 
the old ones, and considerably to the right of the 
town. The work was carried on with so much 
alacrity, that it was nearly completed at the same 
moment in which the last of Barclay de Tolly's rear 
guard were quitting the subiubs. 

When a communication was thus opened with 
the opposite bank, (and which Buonaparte render^ 
ed still more free by setting his men to repair, 
with all expedition, the demolished bridges ;) the 
French passed over in a strong body under the 
command of Marshal Ney. His orders were to 
overtake, and atfack the retiring division of the 
Russians ; while the coips of Junot and Davoust, 
supportecl by the whole of the cavalry under Murat 
and Beauharnois, were to move upon Douchoffachi- 
na, and proceed to the right bank by the newly 
constructed bridge, and then continue their march 
to the high road, between Valitina Gora and Lava- 
china, leading to Moscow. At this point they 
hoped to cut off the rear guard of the Russians 
from the .main army ; and, in consequence of such 



97 

a loss, reduce that army to such extremities as to 
throw it completely into their power. 

General Baron Korff, in making his retiring 
movements marched along the heights in two co- 
lumns, in a direction to the point where the two 
roads branched off. On these roads the Russian 
troops which preceded him, had taken their route ; 
and on the spot where the ways separated, he was 
to station himself, that he might cover both. 

Not aware of the so rapid advance of the French 
upon this very track, the Baron was surprised to 
find his forward parties fall back. They explained 
their check by giving information that the enemy 
had gained the right shore of the Boresthenes in 
great force, and were spreading themselves be- 
tween him and his proposed line of march. 

In this critical situation, nothing was left but to 
endeavour to maintain his present position ; not 
doubting but that the Commander-in-chief, on find- 
ing the rear-guard had been attacked, would lose 
no time in sending troops to its support. Accord- 
ing to this resolution, Korff ordered the right col- 
lUTin to form on the ground where it then stood ; 
and the left to station itself on a commanding point 
close to the town of Talitina. Prompt as the troops 
w^ere in obeying these directions, they were not 
completely executed before another body of the 
enemy appeared on the Smolenzk side. These 
new corps waited not an instant, but attacked the 
Russians with a sudden and tremendous shock. 
This was the signal for a general assault in the oth- 
er quarter. 

Ney's troops began the business, by charging the 
rear of the right column of the Russians before it 
had time to finish its formation. He made the on- 
set with the bayonet ; it being his design by the 
surprise and impetuosity of his movement, to drive 
them from their ground. 

General Korff perceiving the difficulties of his 
situation increase, judged it prudent to release 

13 



98 

iiiinself, if possible, from these unequal and des* 
perate encounters, by making a junction with his 
left column, which was forming very rapidly, and 
had already opened a heavy fire upon the advan- 
cing bodies of the enemies. To this effect he or- 
dered two battalions supported by several guns, to 
remain on his present ground, to cover his move- 
ment while retiring upon the other column. 

The brave men selected for this duty, perform- 
ed it with unshaken firmness, notwithstanding the 
most violent efforts to dislodge them ; nor did they 
tecede one step, until their General had gained bis 
object ; although to ensure it, nearly one half of 
their undaunted comtades sacrificed their lives. 

At this crisis the rear of the Russian mai*i array 
was not farther distant from the scene of action 
than six wersts. When the Commander-in-chief 
heard, the cannonade, he justly apprehended that 
his covering troops had been assailed, and, without 
loss of time he gave orders for Prince Eugene of 
Wirtemberg, with a strong division of infantry and 
detachments of artillery, to return to the separation 
of the two roads where General Korff's corps had 
been left. Directions were also sent to Major- 
General TouchkofF, to march with a body of troops- 
to the support of General Karpoff, v^'ho was at the 
village of Gedeonovo with a small corps, occupying 
the gvound near the river, and close to the high 
road to Moscow. 

Prince Eugene of Wirtemberg executed his or- 
ders with great ability, defeating the enemy in 
every attempt to oppose his passage to the attain- 
ment of his object. 

General Korff, on seeing himself so powerfully 
reinforced, and still maintaining his advantageous 
position believed himself sofiiciently strong to defy 
the utmost efforts of the enemy to dislodge him. 
The French, however, dared the enterprize ; and 
a heavy column moved forwards towards the centre 
of the Russian front. It was supported by two 



99 

others wlucb, on the opposing Ihie being broken, 
was to close in and complete the destruction. 

Owino' to the commandino" situation of the Rus- 
sian ground its artillery had a terrible efTect on the 
advancing enemy, who, seeing his men fall in hun- 
dreds, and that General Gudin, by whom they had 
been led on, lay dead on the field, commanded, a 
pause in the attack. He perceived, from what had 
just happened, how vain would be the attempt to 
force Korff, who was now so well supported, from 
his formidable position ; and trying another way, 
the French leader ordered a movement to his right ; 
with the intention, by falling upon the little detach- 
ment of Karpoff j of getting possession of the road 
he protected ; and of, probably, inducing Korff 
either to come down from his present ground, or at 
least to weaken himself by dispatching troops to 
the aid of KarpofF's division. 

The enemy advanced to this attack with a fury 
answerable to the magnitude of his ultimate object. 
Karpoff, finding himself severely pressed, and near- 
ly overwhelmed, began rapidly to fall back ; but, 
happily, at this critical moment General Touchkoff 
appeared. A part of his fresh troops rushed on to 
the support of their retiring countrymen, and check- 
ing the impetuosity of the French, enabled Karpoff 
to detach a considerable body of his cavalry to the 
succour of his left, and also to bring up the remain- 
der of his artillery. 

The enemy, though checked v/as not repulsed ; 
and, returning to the attack with renewed spirit, 
they charged the Russians with their whole weight 
of cavalry. The combat was close and obstinate ; 
many gallant acts were performed on both sides, 
but neither seemed to prevail. The French object 
was to open to themselves the great road, and to 
this end Marshals Davoust, Ney, and Murat, di- 
rected all their operations against the Russian left. 

Whilst this brave column stood its ground with- 
out yielding an inch, Baron" Korff, observing the 



.fj 



100 

direction in which the enemy was thickening his 
ranks, dispatched a reinforcement to the division 
of Karpolf ; and himself at the same time made a 
movement on his left, parallel with that of the ene- 
my. This he did not only to support more effectu- 
ally the gallant little corps of Karpoff, but to pre- 
vent the designs of the French to block up his line 
of march. 

After a conflict of many hours, the day was far 
advanced, when part of Korff 's troops, in follow- 
ing up their manoeuvres, came in upon the right of 
Touchkoff's troops. This happy junction, aided 
by a smart fire from a thick wood well lined with 
light infantry, (which had been posted there to pro- 
tect the right,) had a decisive effect upon the oppo- 
site division of the enemy. Marshal Ney com- 
manded in this quarter. Finding his troops so hot- 
* ly received, he determined to make a strong effort 
to turn his adversary in his flank, by bringing up a 
column which had not yet been engaged. The ad- 
vance Avas accordingly made, and supported by 
several squadrons of horse and artillery, but all in 
vain. The strengthened corps of the Russians so 
completely baffled his endeavours, that, after two 
successive attempts, he was obliged to abandon the 
enterprize, and retire under the galling fire of his 
adversary. The contest, after this retrograde 
movement of the three Marshals, gradually subsi- 
ded on the part of the French ; and, by twelve 
o'clock at night (August 19th,) the Russians were 
left in quiet possession of the disputed way. 

The Generals Korff, Touchkoff, and the Prince 
of Wirtemberg, finding themselves so entirely mas- 
ters of the field as to be able to move to any point 
without opposition, decided on marching towards 
the Dneiper, meaning to pass that river near Slob- 
Pneva. 

This hard-fought day cost both armies many lives. 
The Russians calculate their own loss in killed to 
amount to one thousand. Their w^ounded might. 



101 

he numbered at tliree thousand. The French slain, 
(from the disadvantageous situations in which they 
made their attacks,) must have been double that of 
their adversary's. They lost durinsf the clay, up- 
wards of thirteen hundred men, as prisoners to the 
Russians. Napoleon's reports with their usual de- 
lusions, will not allow of this, but estimate the loss 
in their lines to be six hundred killed, two thousand, 
six hundred wounded, but without losing a man as a 
prisoner. 

This gallant stand made by a corps of not more 
than forty thousand Russians, against a force of 
ninety thousand men, astonished the discomfited 
enemy, and filled the adjacent country with confi- 
dence. If so much could be done by so small a 
body of resolute soldiers, what might not be ex- 
pected from the accumulated and concentrated force 
of the empire ! 

As it is the custom of the French ruler always to 
claim the laurels of the field, it is not out of course 
that he should place upon his head the bloody 
wreath of this ; but in the midst of his assumption he 
cannot forbear owing it as a hard-earned victory, as 
one of the most brilliant /«?'^5 d'armes ever recorded 
in military history. The plan of the Russians, in 
this campaign, of falling back into their country, 
until the time and the circumstances should unite 
by which they might pour certain destruction on 
their invaders, afforded Napoleon a ground for his 
assumption of every victory, and assisted in the 
impositions his reports were framed to put on the 
world. At least such was the effect on superficial 
observers. But a grand and comprehensive and 
conclusive plan was that of Russia at this crisis ; 
and to maintain it, they as readily left the field of 
triumph as of discomfiture. It is too much the 
practice to judge of men and schemes more in the 
detail, than by the great result ; and hence come 
rash and unjust decisions. 

In the midst of all Napoloon'g boasl^: of uninter- 



102 

rupted victory, one circumstance was ever present 
to contradict him ; the barrenness of his conquests ! 
He found no pillage, no trophies with which to 
stimulate his soldiers, or to flatter the vanities of his 
people. He had told his troops that they should 
gather the riches of every province they passed over. 
But, instead of satiating themselves with rapine, 
they found wasted lands and deserted villages. 
He cheered the disappointed multitude with the 
assurance that they should indemnify themselves 
with the wealth of Smolenzk, They advanced to 
its walls, and met only a heap of burning ruins. 
Impatience and discontent now began to murmur 
throughout "^ the French soldiery. Many of them 
remembered the spoils of Italy and of Germany. 
All of them repeated the expectations with which 
they were filled on marching into Russia. Their 
fatigues and dangers were to be rewarded with the 
harvests of the fields, the wealth of the cities, the 
treasures of the churches, and the abundance of the 
whole empire spread at their feet ! Day after day 
passed away, and still no part of these grand prom- 
ises was performed. Every step the French army 
advanced into the country covered the earth with 
their bleeding bodies ; and showed to the survivors, 
nothing but the traces of destruction. 

The effects of the Russian mode of defence were 
seriously felt even at Yitepsk, by the enemy. Ma- 
ny hundreds of his disappointed soldiers deserted 
to the army of Count Yigtenstein ; and, it was not 
without the most extraordinary efforts that the 
French leader could check this disposition in his 
men, so ruinous, not only to his present schema of 
aggrandisement, but to the stability of his power 
in general. Threats of the most tremendous pun- 
ishments, were denounced on the delinquents ; and 
the largest promises reiterated to them who Avould 
remain faithful. Moscow was named as the ulti- 
iiiate reward of the patience and persevering cour- 
age of his mer:. From the ancient palaces of that 



103 

imperial city, he pledged himself that they should 
see him stand the dictator of peace or war, not on- 
ly to the whole empire but to all Europe. The 
glory of his achievement should be his reward ; 
while they should find theirs in the accumulated 
riches of ages, the hoarded possessions of princes 
and nobles, the "^treasuries of the priesthood, and 
the spoil of the people at large. Thus did the 
genius of desolation hail on his myrmidons to fol- 
low his steps to the pillage of nations, the violation 
of women, the murder of infants, and the cai'nage of 
men. 

On the morning of the 20th of Aug|||t, M a})out 
one o'clock, the Russians moved from their victo- 
rious field, and reached Slob-Pneva, a distance of 
thirty wersts, without being molested by even the 
sight of an enemy. In their march they took care 
to render the roads they passed over, inipracticable 
to any who might wish to follow them. They de- 
stroyed no less than five bridges ; and took every oth- 
er precaution to impede the progress of the invader. 

On the 19th of August, the rear of the columns 
of the main army had crossed the Boristhenes at the 
same place, leaving a considerable party of light 
cavalry and iiTegular troops, on the right bank of 
the river, to keep up a communication with Baron 
Vinzingorode. That General had been detached 
with eight thousand men, to the neighbourhood o£ 
DouchoS'china, there to w^atch the motions of the 
enemy ; and be a check on him, in case he should 
be inclined to send a corps from that town, in the 
direction of Bealoy and Zubtzoifi tc threaten the 
city of Twer. 

When the first army reached the vicinity of Do- 
rogobouche, the Commander-in-chief took up his 
ground about ten wersts from that city, on the right 
bank of the river Ouja, near the village of Ousviat. 
J^ere he made dispositions to oppose the progress 
of the enemy, should he not have been completely 
checked by the Russian rear guard. 



104 

Prince Blagation bad already arrived at Dorogo- 
bouche, but he was ordered to resume his marchy 
and form upon Barclay de Tolly's left, close to the 
village of Savino. He was, however, directed to 
leave a very strong detachment, both of cavalry 
and infantry, on the right bank of the Dneiper, be- 
fore Dorogobouche. Major-Genelral Neveroffsky 
commanded this detachment. 

On the evening of the 23d of August, the rear 
guards gained the position occupied by the first and 
second armies now united. About three hours 
after this complete junction, very strong parties of 
theAppfcn^were discovered; and their first ap- 
pearance was soon followed by the threatening ap- 
proach of a fofiHiclable body towards the Russian 
left flank. The enemy's intention seemed to be to 
turn this part of the imperial line, and to cut off its 
communication with the road on which it might 
mean to retire. 

The Commander-in-chief having gained the ob- 
ject of his waiting, (the arrival of his rear guard,) 
gave orders for the army to move, and fall back 
\ipon Dorogobouche. They obeyed, and w^ere at 
the destined place about midnight. Here the 
ground was found as imfavourable, as that the army 
iiad just quitted, to turn any attack to advantage. 
Barclay de Tolly, therefore, after strengthening 
his covering divisions, put all into motion again ; 
and marshalling his army into three columns, or- 
dered the centre to keep the great road towards 
)Semlevo ; the right under Bragation, to advance to 
Loujki by the way of Boyan ; and the left to pro- 
ceed through Konoushkino to Fanassievo. At these 
points they respectively arrived on the 26th of 
Auo;u3t, and then halted to observe the movements 
of the enemy. 

The corps under Baron Vinzingorode, finding 
the French advancing on them from Douchoffchina, 
immediately proceeded to Bealoy, and by occupy- 
ing that place the more effectually secured their 



105 

communication with Twer. They also maintained 
a free interchange with Wiazma, by the means of 
a detachment of Cossacs, and some regular troops 
under the command of Major-General KrasnofF, 
who kept a vigilant watch over the road. 

After the retreat of the Russian rear-guard the 
enemy lost no time in following its steps. His 
advanced parties found themselves close upon its 
heels, a few wersts from Ouja ; and the rest of their 
army being in rapid march, they did not doubt but 
on. this spot they would make Russia tremble. 

The French came on in tliree columns. The left 
Was composed of troops of BeauharnJ^s ;iyi^cen- 
tre, of those commanded by Marshals Davoustj 
Ney, and Murat. The right was formed by the 
corps under Prince Poniatofsky^ 

Scarcely a shot had been fired for many wersts^ 
And, it was not until the covering corps of the 
Russians arrived on the margin of the Osma, 
(which river crosses the main road behind Rouibki,) 
that any fighting recommenced. But here a party 
of Murat's cavalry furiously charged two battalions 
of Russian infantry which occupied Rotiibki^ and 
obliged them to pass the river. At the same mo- 
ment another detachment of the rear-guard was at- 
tacked at*Snamenskoy by a superior force ; but in 
spite of their disadvantage they maintained the post 
for several hours, and then, after a trifling loss^ 
fell back in good order* 

On the 27th of August the first and second army 
again united near Wiazma, but still the Command- 
er-in-chief did not judge the ground suitable to 
military operations^ He gave orders that every 
magazine, and every article in the town that might 
be useful to the enemy, should be destroyed. Near- 
ly the whole of its inhabitants, on hearing of the 
fate of Smolenzk, had collected their valuables, 
and like the natives of the fallen city, fled for re- 
fuge to places more remote from the foot of invasion. 
Flames now appeared in the depopulated streets as 

14 



106 

another proof to the unsheltered French soldiery 
that they should find no roof of rest within the 
country they had filled with so many calamities. 

When the Russian rear-guard passed through the 
devoted town, they put the final stroke to the ea- 
ger hopes of their enemy, by destroying the bridg- 
es which cross the Wiazma river, as it traverses the 
city in three different directions. 

The whole Russian force continued its march up- 
on Zarevo-Zalomichi, where Barclay de Tolly com- 
manded his troops to halt, and posted both armies. 
On his left, he occupied Lomouy, and his right was 
stationed belore the village of Trakova. He had 
also a strong avant-guard at Mittau, a village about 
eighteen wersts in his front. 

Thus was situated the Russian force, when Bar- 
clay de Tolly received a courier, announcing to his 
Excellency, that the Prince GolenistshefF Koutou- 
sotF was appointed in his stead. Commander-in-chief 
of the whole imperial army. 



Prince Golenistsheff KoutousoFF, whose mil- 
itary life has been crowned wath the most merited 
success, was now called upon to head his country's 
heroes, and to lead them on to victory and immor- 
tal fame. The voice of the nation cried aloud for 
this great Captain again to command in that field 
where he had already gained so many laurels. 
The renewal of his services was claimed by the no- 
bility and the people. And, although so short a 
time had elapsed since he sought repose after clo- 
sing with honour the toilsome war on the Danube, 
he was again appointed, by his Imperial Majesty 
Alexander, to assert the rights of the Empire, and 
was sent on the 201h of August, to sustain the chief 
command of the array opposed to Napoleon. 

The demonstration of universal joy, on the 
knowledge of his appointm<3nt being made putjlic^ 



107 

was unbounded ; and the soldiery were not back- 
ward in expressing their feelings on the event. Un- 
der him many thousands of the veterans of the ar- 
my had often been shown the road to victory, and 
now their hearts beat high with the hope of again 
proving themselves worthy the command of such a 
chief. 

This general was now of an age when, in the 
usual constitution of man, the energies of nature 
begin to feel the effects of a long and care-worn life ; 
but he seemed privileged ; as if heaven had dest- 
ined him to his latest hour, to enjoy, for the benefit 
of his country, all the ardors and activity of youth. 
More than seventy years had passed over his liead^ 
years of severe service, in which he had been ex- 
posed to the most trying climates, and to every vi- 
cissitude of war, being several times dangerously 
wounded. But with all this, the powers of his mind 
were not lessened, nor the strength of his body im- 
paired. 

He arrived from St. Petersburgh at head-quar- 
ters, on the 29th of August, when the command 
of the army was given up to him. That moment 
was hailed with acclamations by all ranks ; and in 
the confidence of his countrymen he received the 
dearest meed of his high military talents, and the 
perils to which he had exposed himself in their use. 
His predecessor, Barclay de Tolly, took the com- 
mand of a division. 

In Prince Koutousoff 's journey from St. Peters- 
burgh he passed through Moscow, where he stop- 
ped a few hours, and had an interview with the mil- 
itary Governour Count Rastapchin. In this con- 
ference much momentous matter, relative to future 
measures, was settled ; and the Governour was re- 
quested to hasten the reinforcements of new raised 
militia in the governments of Moscow and Kalouga. 
At this time a valuable coi-ps of reserve, under 
General Miloradovitch, were on their march, The 



108 

Prince directed that the whole should proceed up- 
on Mqjaisk. 

On the new Commander-in-chief's" arrival at the 
Zarevo-Zalomichi, he found that the Russian posi- 
tion there was very unfavourable for awaiting, to 
advantage, the approach of the enemy. He saw 
that the troops were fatigued, and much weakened 
in physical strength, by their long and harrassing 
marches, and by their continued fighting ; and 
aware of the necessity of affording them some re- 
pose before he should bring them to the action he 
ineditated, he put the whole army in motion, to 
seek some place of security where they might re- 
vive in rest, and await the junction of the expected 
reinforcements. 

On the morning of the 30th of August, Prince 
KoutousofF set his troops in motion. He advanced 
through the city of Gchatz, and halted on the 1st of 
September, in the vicinity of the village of Borodi- 
no, about twelve wersts from the city of Mojaisk. 
He was now on the great road which leads direct to 
Moscow. On this ground his Excellency deter- 
mined to form, and await the arrival of the enemy. 
He foresaw that longer to defer a battle would be 
impossible ; and that he could not find a more ad- 
vantageous field between him and the ancient capi- 
tal of the empire. He was fully aware of what 
would be the ultimate effect on the great cause, of 
the issue of this first general contest between the 
Emperor's and the Invader's armies. The whole 
experience of his veteran life, all the determination 
of his brave heart, and every exertion of exhorta- 
tion and example were called forth to prepare his 
impatient troops to meet, not only with ardour, 
but with unreceding resolution the awful events of 
the expected day. The reinforcements had arri- 
ved, consisting of the militia, commanded by Count 
MarkofF, and the division of regular troops under 
General Miloradovitch, which were intended to re- 



109 

cruit the regiments of the line timt had suffered loss 
in the late aflhirs. 

From the time the enemy learnt that the Com- 
mander-in-chief of the Russian army was Prince 
Koutoiisoff, he became more circumspect in his 
movements ; and, in consequence, the parties of 
his advance kept at a cautious distance from those 
of the Russian left. 

Nearly five days elapsed before the French lead-^ 
er was seen in any force. Prince Koutousoff omit- 
ted not to take advantage of the awe Avith which he 
had inspired his adversaries : and he employed this 
time of their hesitation in refreshing his troops, 
equalizing the newly arrived, and strengthing with 
redoubts the vulnerable parts of his position. He 
assembled his Generals, and stating to them the 
dispositions he w^as about to make, found that their 
confidence was equal to his own in the intrepidity 
of the Russian soldier ; and that their ov/n exam- 
ples would not be wanting to lead their men to the 
extremest point of heroic daring. The universal 
feeling declared that the day in which they should 
encounter th*e concentrated legions of France, 
should be one of immortal glory to Russia. 

The face of the country which surrounded the 
Russian position, was in general flat, but Koutou- 
soff had chosen a ground which possessed conside- 
rable inequalities, and was covered at certain points 
with wood. The Commander-in-chief did not neg- 
lect these advantages. The village of Borodino is 
situated near the high road ; and, at a short dis- 
tance from it, runs a rather deep ravine, through 
which flows the small river Koloya that empties it- 
self into the Moskva at three wersts distance. 
Koutousoff fixed on this ravine as a protection to 
his right and centre, which were under the com- 
mands of Barclay de Tolly and Benningsen. The 
Prince's left, given to the resolute valour of Braga- 
lion, was stationed so as to stretch to the village of 
Semenofka. This post was eminently that of dan* 



# 



110 

ger, its natural position being much less secure 
than that of the right. It was liable to be easily 
turned, bj the old road running from Smolenzk to 
Mojaisk. To remedy, as far as circumstances 
would admit this disadvantage, several redoubts and 
batteries were began to be constructed without loss 
af time. Some were to guard the left of the village, 
others were planted along the elevated ground in 
vhe rear of the line, and one was placed on a de- 
tached height about the distance of a cannot shot in 
the front. This last work w^as independent of the 
others, and merely intended to divert and keep the 
enemy from closing suddenly upon the Russian left. 
Should it be taken, the loss would not materially 
weaken the general strength of the protecting w^orks, 
nor at all injure the great arrangements for the day ; 
on the contrary,the seizure of the fort w^ould cost the 
enemy both time, and the lives of many of his troops. 

The army was thus disposed on the 5th of Sep- 
tember. About two o'clock on that day, the enemy 
was seen advancing in great force. The defensive 
works of the Russians were scarcely completed, 
when the French reconnoitering parties were first 
observed, and these were succeeded by such heavy 
|3odies of cavalry and infantry moving forward on 
the enemy's right, and opposed to the Russian left, 
that Koutousoff soon discovered hostilities would 
commence upon his most vulnerable quaiter. 

Napoleon had reached Wiazma on the 30th of 
August. His army, continuing its march in three 
columns, passed through Gchatz on the 1st of Sep- 
tember. They found the place in the same desola- 
ted state V. ith the other cities, w^hich their invading 
feet had profaned. But ruined as it w^as, they re- 
mained there, and in its vicinity, until the 4th of 
the month. The French leader gives as a reason 
for this halt, that his troops had need of repose. 
But the real cause was his respect for the warlike 
abilities of the Russian Commander-in-chief, which 
pblio:ed him now to consider everv step that he took. 



Ill 

On the morning of the 4th, he again moved for- 
ward, and posted himself near the village of Gredni- 
va. At dawn, the succeeding day, he pursued the 
same course, and about noon on the 5th, came in 
sight of the tlussian lines. Reconnoitering parties 
were .^ent out in all directions, and their informa- 
tion decided Napoleon to do, just what the Russian 
general wished, to commence hostilities by attack- 
ing the w^ork in advance of Prince Bragation's 
di\iision. The rear-guard of KoutousotF had been 
confided to Lieutenant-General Konovnitzen, and 
the greater part of it was still at some short distance 
in front of the Russian left when the French com- 
menced their operations. About two o'clock these 
troops found themselves warmly attacked by the 
avant-guard of the enemy, but they gave it a recep- 
tion which hotly answered its charge, till they could 
fall back under the cover of the redoubt, to the line 
of Bragation. The Commander-in-chief, observing 
these manoeuvres, dispatched a considerable body 
to strengthen the menaced work on the height, and 
likew^ise to well man the thicket by which it was 
surrounded. A corps of infantry and artillery w^as 
posted on the ground behind, to support their com- 
rades in the redoubt, which had not been quite 
completed, from the hardness of the ground impe- 
duig the workmen. 

The enemy with formidable bodies of infantry 
and cavalry, pushed across the little stream of the 
Kaloya, and made their advances towards Braga- 
lion's line. The redoubt stood in their way ; and 
the attack began at this point with fury on their 
side. It was sustained with firmness by the Rus^ 
sians, who looked with intrepid coolness on the con- 
solidated masses of their enemies advancing towards 
them with fixed bayonets. When the French came 
within gun-shot, a heavy fire from the Russian can- 
non and musquetry in the redoubt, a little checked 
their impetuosity. The wood was also attempted 
to be carried at the same time. Piinee Poniatofsky^ 



112 

meanwhile, by a inovement considerably to his 
right, gained the left of the point in dispute, and 
detached a force in advance^ to make an assault in 
that quarter. But they were greeted, as their 
comrades had been, with heavy discharges of artil- 
lery and smaU arms. The first party which had 
been engasjed and repulsed^ took heart at the ad- 
vance of Poniatofsky, and renewed their charge. 
This double attack produced the most desperate 
resistance, and individual acts of valour wor^iy 
the brave Prince Avho posted them there. 

The enemy at last gained the unfinished and un- 
palisadoed fosse, and the fight became a contest 
between man and man. Guns were overthrown : 
the cavalry became intermixed, indiscriminately 
with the infantry : every soldier met his enemy 
breast to breast, and grappled together till one or 
both of them sunk oppressed with wounds. Fresh 
troops arrived to the support of each, and the po^ 
sition was lost and retaken by Bragation's soldiers 
four times. In the midst of this carnage night sep^ 
arated the combatants, and left the bloody field in 
the possession of the etiemy. 

The column in reserve had not remained an un- 
moved spectator of this noble defence ; but dis- 
patching some of its troops, they made several 
brilliant charges, whilst the infantry attacking part 
of Poniatofsky's corps, completely succeeded in 
forcing them back, and to leave eight pieces of 
cannon in the hands of the Russians, besides ma- 
ny prisoners. 

On the enemy having succeeded against the re^ 
doubt, Koutousoif ordered the left wing to fall 
back nearer to the heights in order that their cover- 
ing batteries might have more power in assisting 
this division should it be attacked next day. 

The Avhole of the 6th of September was spent 
by both parties in making preparations for the ine- 
vitable conflict ; preparations which appeared rather 
meant for an extirpation than a battle. 



113 

Napoleon, amidst his other dispositions, did not 
fail to turn to advantage his recently acquired pos- 
session of the redoubt in front of his enemy's left* 
He covered the height on which it stood with ar- 
tillery, and erected, during the night, two other 
batteries opposite the Russian centre. These works 
contained a hundred cannon in each. He also 
formed batteries on his left, which presented a 
range of four hundred guns ready to open at a 
word. Besides these, detachments of artillery were 
distributed amongst the troops, which completed a 
complement of guns, amounting to more than a 
thousand. This prodigious mass of destructive im- 
plements, was more than equalled by the magni- 
tude of the army with which it was supported* It 
appeared to blacken the land, and to stretch even 
to the horizon. 

Having thus strengthened his own left. Napoleon 
directed his chief attention towards the left of hig 
adversary, which he rightly deemed the least protec- 
ted of his line. In order to make the attack more 
effectual, he brought the great body of his troops* 
imder his best Generals, up to his right, for he was 
well informed of the brave spirit he had to oppose 
in Prince Bragation, the commander of the division 
he so formidably menaced. 

Prince Koutousoff was equally prompt. He op- 
posed the preparations which threatened his left, 
by drawing to its support his principal force. This 
array was quickly formed into two lines of infan- 
try, strengthened with artillery, and backed by 
nearly the whole of his cavalry. The squadrons of 
guards remained in reserve between the centre and 
the left, sustained by another division of infantry. 
At the extremity of the position on the left, was a 
low and thick-set wood. In this a strong body of 
light troops, and part of the militia of Moscow, 
were stationed, with orders to act on the old Smo- 
lenzk road, by attacking the enemy on the right and 
rear, should he endeavour to turn the Hussian left. 

13 



114 

While making lliese dispositions in one quartef, 
this consuiiiraaie General attended equally to every 
part of the field ; and, by his directions, the centre 
received an essential protection by the erection of 
a suite of heavy guns on a straight ridge in its vi- 
cinity, which was also connected with the fortified 
ground and batteries that covered Bragation's army. 
That Prince also received additional security from 
the compJetion of another redoubt in his neighbour- 
hood, oflhirty pieces of cannon. 

The day was fast closing, when the veteran herOy 
surrounded by his Generals, passed along the line. 
He had previously ordered the holy picture, so en- 
thusiastically revered, and which had been saved 
from the sacrilegious hands of the enemy at Smo- 
lenzk, to precede him, borne by the priests of the 
army. On its approach, every head was uncover- 
ed, the sacred form of the cross waved on the 
breasts of thousands along the extended line, and 
the most awful silence prevailed. Tears fell from 
the eyes of tiie soldiery. They were not tears of 
grief, but the tribute of that pure religious feeling, 
which, at times, elevates with heavenly emotions 
even the humblest Russian individual. By these 
consecrated mementos, the whole army inwardly 
vowed to maintain their country's rights to the last 
drop of their blood ; and with one impulse they 
called upon the Divine Being, whose image they 
contemplated, to assist them in overthrowing their 
enemies. The feelings of the venerable Koutou- 
soii' can scarcely be expressed. His brave heart 
beat in true unison with those of his soldiers, and 
he thus addressed them : 

" PROTHET5S AND FELLOW SOLDIERS I 

" Behold before you, in those sacred representa- 
tions of the holy objects of our worship, an appeal 
wdiich calls aloud upon lieaven to unite with man 
against the tyrannic troubler of the world. Not 
-cjosient with defacing the4mage of God, in the per- 



115 

sons of millions of liis creatures ; this universal ty- 
rant, this arch-rebel to all laws human and divine, 
breaks into the sanctuary, pollutes it with blood, 
overthroAvs its altars, tramples on its rites, and ex- 
poses the very ark of the Lord, (consecrated in 
these holy insignia of our church,) to all the profa- 
nations of accident, of the elements, and of unsanct- 
ified hands. Fear not then, but that the God whose 
altars have been so insulted by the very Avorm his 
Almighty fiat had raised from the dust, fear not that 
He will not be with you ! That He will not stretch 
forth His shield over your ranks ; and with the 
sword of Michael fight against His enemies ! 

" This is the faith in which I will fight and con- 
quer ! This is the faith in which I would fight and 
fall, and still behold the final victory with my dy- 
ing eyes. Soldiers ! Do your part. Think on 
the burning sacrifice of your cities — think of your 
wives, your children, looking to you for protection 
— think on your Emperor, your lords, regarding 
you as the sinews of their strength ; — and, before 
to-morrow's sun sets, write your faith and your feal- 
ty on the field of your country with the life's blood 
of the invader and his legions !" 

The shout which followed this address, assured 
the veteran that his brave troops only wanted the 
signal to be given, to realize on that spot his most 
devoted wishes for Russian safety and Russian glory. 



The night passed slowly over the wakeful heads 
of the impatient combatants. The morning of the 
7th of September at length broke, and thousands 
beheld the dawn for the last time. The moment 
was arrived when the dreadful discharge of two 
thousand guns was to break the silence of expecta- 
tion, and arouse at once all the horrors of war. 



116 

The French give this pieture of the opening of 
the day. 

" On the 7th at two o'clock in the morning, the 
JEmperor Napoleon, surrounded by his Marshals, 
appeared on the position taken up the evening be- 
fore. It had then rained, but now the sun rose 
without clouds. It is the sun of Austerlits ! cried 
the Emperor ; although but September, it is cold as 
I)ece7nber in Moravia ! 

" The army received the omen. The drums 
beat ; and the order of the day was issued in these 
woixis : 

**^ SOLDIERS ! 

" Before you is the field you have so ardently 
desired ! The victory depends upon you. It is 
necessary to you. It will give you abundance, 
good winter quarters, and a quick return to your 
country. Conduct yourselves as when at Auster- 
litz, at Friedland, at Yitepsk, at Smolenzk, and the 
latest posterity will cite with pride your conduct on 
this day. They will say. He rvas in that great 
battle under the walls of Moscow /" 

The cloudless sun, just described by Buonaparte, 
soon became enveloped in thick vapours ; a cir- 
cumstance greatly to his advantage, since the work 
of death was to be begun by him, and the shadows 
of an indistinct light were favourable to his plan. 
He did not lose an instant under cover of this veil 
of putting it in execution, The generals of his vast 
army (which amounted to one hundred and forty 
thousand men) were all in possession of his com- 
mands ; and ready, at the signal, to obey them. 

At four o'clock in the morning, the divisions un- 
der Marshals Davoust and Prince Poniatofsky ad- 
vanced, skirting the wood on which rested the left 
of the Russian army. At six o'clock they com- 
menced the attack, supported by seventy pieces of 



117 

cannon. A discharge of musquetry, on both side?-, 
{succeeded. They were rapidly repeated ; and 
their vollies were soon accompanied with the loud 
roaring of a heavy fire from the redoubt which the 
French had gained the evening before. While the 
battle was thus opened on the Russian left the di- 
vision of Marshal Ney bore down in a solid column 
upon the centre, covering his movements with the 
active service of a battery of sixty guns. Beauhar- 
nois, at the same time, made the battle general, by 
closing upon the troops on the right, which occu- 
pied Borodino. 

Koutousoflf's line was firm, and well protected by 
its strengthened heights. The plans of attack and 
defence were simple ; and it was soon seen that the 
day was to be won, more by undaunted courage 
than skilful manoeuvre. Where the powers of the 
head are equal in a contest, the victory must de- 
pend on the superiority of heart. 

General as the attack seemed, the corps of Prince 
Bragation had to sustain the accumulating weight 
of nearly half the French army ; and the determi- 
nation shown by its cavalry was so desperate that 
they charged even up to the very mouths of the 
Russian guns. Whole regiments of them, both 
horses and men, were swept down by the cannon 
shot; and all along the front of Bragation's line 
rose a breast-work of dead and dying. 

Napoleon finding that although he had continued 
the attack for upwards of three hours, he was not 
yet able to make an impression, ordered up fifty 
additional pieces of artillery and a fresh division of 
infantry, with several regiments of dragoons under 
Count Calincourt and Murat. This new force rush- 
ed on over the bodies of their fallen countrymen, 
and did not allow themselves to be checked until 
they had reached the very parapets of the Russian 
works. Their vigorous onset overturned, with 
fierce slaughter, every thing that opposed them, 
and obliged Bragation to fall back nearer to the 
second line of the army. 



118 

Buonaparte, seeing the Russians compelled to 
Ibis movement, determined to make it decisive of 
the fortune of the day, by immediately bringing 
forward his right, and turning the few guns he 
had found on this part of the entrenchments upon 
their former masters. He also added to their 
strength by replacing those which Bragation, on 
finding his line so overpoweringly pushed by num- 
bers, had taken off with his retiring troops. 

KoutousofF, seeing his left so dangerously pres- 
sed, sent forward a formidable reinforcement from 
his second line, to support the dauntless front which 
Bragation still presented to the enemy. With 
this aid, which chiefly consisted of grenadiers from 
the reserve, and a body of cavalry composed of hu- 
lans and cuirassieurs, the brave Prince advanced 
rapidly towards the ground so lately wrested from 
him, and which he was determined to regain. The 
French observed his movement, and poured the 
thunder of their artillery upon the intrepid breasts 
of the Russian onset. But the spirit of their leader 
seemed to animate every heart, and urge them on- 
ward in spite of the roar of death which met their 
advancing steps. Again they were on the disputed 
ground ; and the fortified line, and a large redoubt 
became the theatre of battle. The contest was 
close, desperate, and sanguinary. There seemed 
but one resolution between the combatants, never 
to cease the strife till one or both should sink in the 
embrace of death. At this crisis, the militia and 
light troops under Touchkofi*, were ordei;ed to shew 
themselves. These faithful patriots rushed from 
their ambush to second their brothers in arms, and 
fell like lions on their prey. The pikes and hatch- 
ets of this newly-raised soldiery, were exerted with 
such fury and effect, that the carnage they made 
amongst the enemies of their country appeared more 
a sudden desolation from an invisible hand, than the 
deeds of human agency. 

This tremendous scene did not last long. The 



119 

French gave way ; and Napoleon bad tbe mortifica- 
tion of beholding the choicest of his troops driven 
from their late acqnired conquest, with immense 
loss, and in great confusion and dismay. 

Whilst this field of blood was exhibited from the 
Russian left to the centre, Ihe right had its share 
also of the horrors of war. Beauharnois, support- 
ed by the division of Morand, had attempted to 
turn it, by taking possession of Borodino. He also 
made an essay to carry the two redoubts which 
protected it ; but both efforts were vain. He was 
driven back at all points ; and finding no possibility 
of success, after sustaining a great loss, abandoned 
the idea of renewing the attack. 

This despair of the enemy with regard to the 
Russian right enabled KoutousofF to withdraw part 
of its forces, to assist the Imperial guards, with 
hussars and other cavalry, to reinforce his centre. 

The rage of battle at this crisis was not to be de- 
scribed. The thunder of a thousand pieces of artil- 
lery was answered by the discharge of an equal 
number on the part of the Russians. A veil of 
smoke shut out the combatants from the sun, and 
left them no other light to pursue their work of 
death, than the flashes of the musketry which blaz- 
ed in every direction. The sabres of forty thou- 
sand dragoons met each other, and clashed in the 
horrid gloom ; and the bristling points of countless 
bayonets, bursting through the rolling vapour, strew- 
ed the earth with heaps of slain. 

Such was the scene for an extent of many wersts ! 
and the dreadful contest continued without ces- 
sation, until the -darkness of night, deepening the 
clouds of war, the enemy, discomfited in every 
quarter, took advantage of the double obscurity, 
and drew off from the ground. When no object 
remained visible, the groans of the dying marked 
to the victorious Russians the extent of the disput- 
ed field. As they planted their night watches, they 
found at every step full proof that hereafter the re- 



.120 

nowned days of Preussich, Evlau, and Wagram, 
sanguinary as they were, must ever cede in blood 
and horror to the battle of Borodino. 

Thus closed that memorable day; and with it 
terminated the lives of eighty thousand human be- 
ings. Hitherto the annals of modern military 
achievements have never detailed so terrible a 
slaughter. Well might Buonaparte exclaim as he 
abandoned the field, " Jamais on n'a vu peril champ 
de bataille." 

The loss on both sides was immense. And the 
scene of triumph, even to the conquerors, present- 
ed a tremendous spectacle. The ground, covered 
with dead bodies of men and horses, scattered 
arms, dismounted guns, and pieces of artillery left 
to the victors, offered every where to the eye the 
wreck of what might alone have composed a great 
army. 

While the veteran Koutousoff rejoiced in this 
accession to the glory of his country, he had to re- 
gret the expense at which it had been purchased. 
Many excellent officers had fallen, and, in the fore- 
most rank, the inestimable Prince Bragation. His 
left leg iiad been completely shattered by a ball, in 
one of the most critical junctures of the battle ; 
and, tiiough mortally wounded, like our own im- 
mortal Wolfe, he refused to be removed from the 
field until victory was declared for the great cause 
in which he shed his blood. With this gallant 
Prince fell other brave spirits worthy to accompa- 
ny his to paradise ; and, among the most conspicu- 
ous in that day's contest, were the Lieutenant- 
Generals Touchkoff, Garchikoff, and Konovitzen. 

In the number of dangerously, though not mor- 
tally, wounded, were found Major-Oenerals Back- 
nietioff^ Kretoff, and Rajefsky, whose respective 
actions claimed the gratitude of their country. 
Major-General Count Yorronzoff also, received a 
severe bayonet wound whilst intrepidly leading 
forward a battalion of grenadiers to the charge. 



121 

A great number of officers of inferior ranks, bled 
on this fearful day ; and, on the whole, no fewer* 
than thirty thousand men could have fallen, killed 
and wounded, on the side of Russia. The French 
loss must have amounted to something beyond fifty 
thousand. The horses which lay on the ground 
from right to left, numbered full five-and-twenty 
thousand. This wide destruction cost both armies 
nearly the whole of their ammunition. The enemy 
states himself, that he discharged sixty thousand 
cartridges from his guns ; and if Koutousoff an- 
swered them in the same proportion, one hundred 
and twenty thousand balls must have been hurled 
that day in the work of death, on the field of Boro- 
dino. 

Buonap&rte lost amongst his killed, tbe Generals 
Calincourt and Montbrun. Twelve other Generals 
were dangerously wounded ; and one left a prison- 
er in the hands of the Russians, with five thousand 
soldiers, and thirty pieces of cannon in his train ! 

The details given by the enemy, of this battle, 
are, as usual, fraught with incorrectness and false- 
hood. After being obliged to leave the field, and 
pursue a rapid retreat without once halting, till he 
had reached the distance of twelve wersts from the 
victorious Koutousofi*, Napoleon has the effrontery 
thus to claim the laurels of the day : 

" At two o'clock (says he) all hopes of success 
were abandoned by the Russians. The battle was 
ended. It is true the cannonade continued, but 
their object was changed. They now fought for 
safety and retreat— no longer for victory." 

With the earliest dawn Platoff was dispatched 
with his Cossacs in pursuit of the fugitives ; but his 
commission was rather to harass and observe them, 
than to make any serious attack. The Russian 
troops were too much fatigued by the toil of their 
victory, to allow of a fiercer following up of their 

16 



122 

success at this moment ; and while the French fled 
and the Cossacs pmsiied, KoutousofF employed 
himself in repairing the losses of his army, and re- 
warding with his praise the valour of its heroes. 

The general glory of the day, the merits of each 
regiment, and individual soldier, by which it was 
achieved, were faithfully detailed by the Com- 
mander-in-chief in his dispatch to the Emperor 
Alexander. By a happy coincidence, the officer 
bearing the news arrived at St. Petersburgh on the 
anniversary of the Emperor's birth day. He was 
told that the Imperial family were at their devotions 
in the Great Cathedral. He hurried thither ; and 
presented his glad tidings to his Sovereign at the ' 
very moment when the Te Deum for the birth of 
that Sovereign was resounding through the church. 
Alexander read the report with acclamations of 
gratitude to heaven ; and the victory being public- 
ly declared, the Te Deum was again chaunted, but 
every voice now united in the strain which gave 
glory to God who had fought for Russia and cov- 
ered her people with immortal honours. 

The gi'acious disposition of the Emperor was not 
satisfied with barely expressing to the Commander- 
in-chief his admiration of the prowess of the Rus- 
sian patriots on the day of Borodino ; but he com- 
manded that his thanks should be given to the 
whole army ; that badges of merit, to be an evi- 
dence to future generations of the dauntless brave- 
ry of each individual present^ should be distributed 
along the lines. Medals to the soldiery ; and to 
the officers of higher ranks, swords of honour, 
crosses, and stars, and orders of knighthood. To 
the Commander-in-chief, the Emper<^ addressed 
the most affectionate acknowledgments, of his 
glorious perseverance and consummate skill, in de- 
feating an enemy who had hitherto deemed himself 
above all human power. The Imperial Alexander 
added to these marks of honour, the rank of Fieid- 
marshal to Prince Koutousoff; with the addition of 



123 

a hundred tlioiisand rubles ; anid to eacii private 
soldier who had shared in the glories of that day, 
he gave a largess of live roubles. 

Thus were they rewarded who survived the hard- 
fouglit field. But for them w^ho, with the brave 
Bragation, had laid dov>^n their laurelled heads in 
the dust of conquest and of death ; for them, the 
tears of the Emperor flowed ; and with him thena- 
tion wept, chastening their joy in victory, with the 
regrets due to the heroes wdio had given their lives 
for its purchase. 



<jREAT as was the advantage gained by the Kus- 
sian arms in the field of Borodino, their Comman- 
der-in-chief only regarded it as the opening of a 
long day of military labours ; and though he al- 
lowed his troops to refresh themselves during the 
intervals of toil, he saw the hour of rest was far dis- 
tant, and they thought not of repose. With spirits 
alert, and the unsheathed blade still in their hands, 
they followed their magnanimous leader through 
every exertion in the cause of their country ; and 
awaited with vigilant impatience the moment when 
their ranks would be restored to suflScient strength 
to overthrow the new^ bodies of the enemy which 
now threatened to approach their lines. 

Report informed Koutousoff that Napoleon had 
been reinforced with ten battalions of infantry, ma- 
ny regiments of cavalry, several hundred carts of 
ammunition, and much artillery. The most formida- 
ble part of this army was directing its march towards 
the position of the Russian Commander-in-chief, 
wkile other detachments were filing off to its left to 
Zwenigorode, leading to Moscow.. The Russian 
parties in advance brought this intelligence ; and 
Koutousoff, not having yet received the reinforce- 
ments he expected from Toula and Kolouga, fore- 
bore, to press forward with an open front to check 



124 

the French ; who he heard were moving towards 
the road that crosses the country to Veria and Bo- 
rosk. To prevent these movements hemming in 
his flanks, he thought it well to retire on the Mos- 
cow road ; and giving the necessary commands to 
his victorious Russians, they marched on in excel- 
lent order towards their ancient capital. Disdain- 
ful of a moment's repose while aught was yet to be 
done, they passed direct tlirough the city ; and 
turning to the right, by a rapid and masterly march, 
took up an advantageous position on the Kalouga 
road, not far from Podol. 

By this movement, so little understood by the 
world at that time, the road to the old capital be- 
came entirely open to the enemy. The snare was 
laid, and the prey was not long in rushing into the 
toil. 

Napoleon pursued the path of KoutousofT as far 
as the gates of Moscow, and halted before them 
about noon on the 14th of September. 

Various opinions were formed, even in Russia, 
of this situation of affairs ; but none withdrew their 
confidence in the integrity of the Commander-in- 
chief. Steady in one principle of action, he gave 
this explanation to his Emperor of a movement, 
which divided the empire between astonishment 
and admiration, 

" Sire ! 
" After the hard-fought day, and glorious victo- 
ry of the 26th of August, O, S. (7th September, 
JN[. S.) I judged it necessary to quit my position 
near Borodino. Some of my reasons for making 
this movement I have already had the honour of 
communicating to your Imperial Majesty ; and I 
shall now add another, in the comparatively en- 
feebled state of the army after a battle in which 
every individual contended with the brave resolu- 
tion of conquering or of dying. Many fell in the 
conflict ; and the wounds and fatigues of tbe sur* 



125 

vivors, though embalmed with the laurels of victo- 
ry, rendered the hazard of another battle in their 
weakened situation, and with a reinforced enemy, 
an enterprize not of courage but of folly. To 
avoid such a rencontre I changed my position, and 
turned towards Moscow. Dm'ing my march daily 
skirmishes took place between the troops and the 
enemy's advanced guard ; but no vantage ground 
presenting itself in the short distance that separates 
the capital from Borodino, and my expected rein- 
forcements not having come up, I still avoided a 
general attack, and proceeded on my way. 

" At this time I learnt that the enemy had sent 
on two strong columns of fresh troops, the one by 
the road to Borosk, and the other by that of Zwe- 
nigorode to act on our rear on the side of Moscow. 
To seek a battle under these disadvantages, would 
have been an useless prodigality of blood, and ex- 
posure of my brave troops to the disgrace of an 
overthrow. The risque, on my part, would have 
been unpardonable ; for though the reinforced ar- 
my of Napoleon would now count more than dou- 
ble our numbers, yet in defeat there is ever a sense 
of dishonour as well as of inferiority : and, how^ 
far would I not lead the Russian soldier from any 
chance of incurring this appaling feeling ! Besides, 
to be beaten before the walls of Moscow, would 
expose the city to the lawless entrance of the trium- 
phant enemy ; and its riches and its towers would 
become the strength of Buonaparte ! 

" Foreseeing this, I held a consultation with my 
ablest Generals. I imparted to them what I antici- 
pated must accrue from the relative state of the 
two armies ; I informed them of the alternative, be- 
tween loyalty to their country and vassalage to the 
invader, which had been decided on in case of ex- 
tremity by the noble inhabitants of the ancient city 
of the Tzars. I offered my opinion on these facts. 
Some of my Generals dissented from me ; but most 
agreed with my advice ; and we determined to allow 
the enemy to enter Moscow I 



126 

" Aware of the expediency of this measure, all 
expedition bad been previously made to remove to 
a place of safety the contents of the arsenal, and 
the treasures of the city, both public and private. 
With their property most of the people departed ; 
and Moscow was left a mere desart of walls and 
houses, without an inhabitant. Call to mind what 
the human body is when deserted by the soul ! So 
is Moscow when abandoned by its citizens. The 
soul of an empire is its people ; and wherever they 
are, there is Moscoav, there is the empire of Russia. 
Hence, I boldly assure your most Gracious Majes- 
ty, that the entrance of the French into Moscow 
is not the conquest of Russia, is not the subjugation 
of the capital of the Tzars. 

" I do not deny that the desperate alternative of 
sacrificing the venerable city of our ancestors, is a 
wound to all our hearts, is a stroke that must pierce 
every Russian breast with unutterable regrets ; 
but then it is a city for an empire ; the immolatioa 
of a part to save the whole. 

" Already it affords me the means of preserving 
my army entire. I possess the Toula road ; and 
cover with the extended line of my troops, the 
storehouse of our resources, the abundant provin- 
ces of the empire, which furnish our armies with 
their flocks and their harvests. Had I taken any 
other position, or persisted in maintaining Moscow, 
I must have abandoned these provinces to the ene- 
my, and the consequence would have been the de- 
struction of my army and the loss of the empire. 

" Now, I hold an unmolested communication with 
the armies of Tormozoff and Tchichagoff ; and 
am enabled to form a chain of union with my whole 
force, that empowers me, beginning from the 
Toula and Kalouga roads, to completely intersect 
the enemy's line of operations, which stretches 
from Smoienzk to Moscow. By this advantage I 
cut off every succour he may have in his rear ; and. 



127 

hope to compel him in the end to quit the capital, 
and to humble the proud direction of his plans. 

" Meanwhile, General YinRingorode has receiv- 
ed my orders to occupy Twer ; and at the same time 
to place a regiment of Cossacs on the road leading 
to Yarasloff, to protect the inhabitants of that city 
from the incursions of the enemy's flying parties. 
For myself, stationed, as I before described, be- 
tween the enemy and the fertile provinces, and at 
a short distance from Moscow, I watch his move- 
ments, and guard the resources of the empire ; for, 
I must repeat, that as long as the army of your 
Imperial Majesty exists, (and it will exist as long 
as there is a Russian alive to defend his country !) 
the loss of Moscow is not the loss of the empire ! 
The invader will be compelled to evacuate the cap- 
ital of the Tzars. Its ruins will be repaired, and 
the glory of the empire brightened by the very at- 
tempts that have been made to extinguish its exis- 
tence. 

" Dated from the village of Gilino, Sept. 4tb, O. S. 1812. 

Sept. 16th, N. S. 1812." 

This communication made the plans of the Com- 
mander-in-chief clear to the Emperor. The peo- 
ple at large regarded the present measures with va- 
rious sentiments. Those wdio entered into the 
veteran's councils admired his consummate skill as 
a General ; and those who knew them not, con- 
fiding in his character, awaited with wondering sus- 
pense the result of movements so far beyond their 
comprehension. 

The information that Moscow was in the pos- 
session of the enemy, at its first report certainly 
struck horror into every breast. There is a princi- 
ple of respect, a kind of filial attachment, which 
tlie Russian feels for all that is connected with his 
ancestors. To see, therefore, the most venerable 
of their cities, the capital of the Tzars, and the 
residence of the descendants of their oldest princes ; 



128 

to see this place in the hands ot a foreign power, 
was more than the people could bear with patience. 
They felt indignation, not despair, at the usurpa- 
tion : and as a sense of the insult pressed upon 
their minds, their courage rose in strength and 
greatness, and they who in tranquil times seemed 
but common men, in the season of conflict showed 
themselves heroes. 

The Emperor in unison with these feelings, and 
to encourage the patriotism of his subjects, by com- 
municating to them the answering sentiments of his 
ovYn soul, ordered the following declaration to be 
distiibuted through the empire : 

" Moscow was entered by the enemy on the 3d 
of September, O. S. (the 15th, N. S.) At this in- 
telligence it might be expected that consternation 
would appear in every countenance ; but far from 
us be such pusillanimous despondency ! Rather, 
let us swear to redouble our perseverance and our 
resolution ; let us hope that fighting in a just cause, 
we shall hurl back upon the enemy all the evil with 
which he seeks to overwhelm us. Moscow indeed 
is occupied by French troops ; but it has not be- 
come theirs in consequence of their having destroy- 
ed our armies. The Commander-in-chief, in con- 
cert with the most distinguished of our Generals, 
has deemed it wisest to bend for a moment to ne- 
cessity. He recoils, only to give additional force 
to the weight with which he will fall on our enemy. 
Thus will the short triumph of the French leader 
lead to his inevitable destruction. 

" We know that it is painful to every true heart 
in Russia, to see the desolators of their country in 
the ancient capital of the empire. But its walls 
alone have been suffered to fall into his hands. 
Deserted by its inhabitants, and dispossessed of its 
treasures, it oiTers a tomb, rather than a dwelling 
place, to the ruthless invader, who wauld there plant 
a new throne on the ruins of the empire. 



129 

" This proud devastator of kingdoms, on his en- 
trance into Moscow, hoped to become the arbiter 
of our fates, and to prescribe peace to us on his 
own terms. But the expectation is fallacious. He 
finds in Moscow, not only no means for domina- 
tion, but no means for existence. Our forces, al-^ 
ready surrounding Moscow, and to which every day 
is brmging accession, will occupy all the roads> and 
destroy every detachment the enemy may send 
forth in search of provisions. Thus will he be fa- 
tally convinced of his error in calculating that the 
possession of Moscow w^ould be the conquest of 
the empire ; and necessity Avill at last oblige him 
to fly from famine^ through the closing ranks of our 
intrepid army. 

" Behold the state of the etiemVi He has en^ 
tered Russia at the head of an army of three hun^ 
dred thousand men. But whence do they come ? 
Have they any natural union with his aggrandise^ 
ment 1 No ; the greater number of them are of 
different nations who serve him, not from personal 
attachment^ not for the honour of their native landj 
but from a base and shameful fear* The disor- 
ganizing principle, in such a mixture of people, 
has been already proved* One half of the inva- 
der's army, thus made up of troops that have no 
natural bond of union, has been destroyed ; some 
part, by the valour of our soldiers ; another, by 
desertion, sickness, and famine ; and, the misera- 
ble remainder is in Moscow. 

" Without doubt, the bold, or rather, it should 
be called, rash enterprise of penetrating into the 
bosom of Russia ; nay, of occupying its ancient 
capital ; feeds the pride of the supposed conquer- 
or : but IT IS THE END WHICH CROWNS 
ALL! 

" He has not yet penetrated into a country where 
one of his actions has diffused terror, or brought a 
single Russian to his feet. Russia clings to the pa- 
ternal throne of a sovereign, who stretches over 

17 



130 

her the guardian arms of affection : she is not aC' 
customed to the yoke of oppression : she will not 
endure subjection to a foreign power. She will 
neyer surrender the treasure of her laws, her reli- 
gion, and her independence ; and we will shed all 
oUr blood in their defence ! This principle is ar- 
dent and universal ; and is manifested in the prompt 
and voluntary organization of the people under the 
sacred banner of patriotism. Protected by such an 
aegis, who is it that yields to degrading apprehen- 
sion ? Is there an individual in the empire so ab- 
ject as to despond, when vengeance is breathed by 
every order of the state ? When the enemy, de- 
prived of all his resources, and exhausting his 
strengtli from day to day sees himself in the midst 
of a powerful nation, encircled by her armies ; 
one of which menaces him in front, and the other 
three watch to intercept the arrival of succours an4 
to prevent his escape ? Is this an object of alarm 
to any true-born Russian ? When Spain has brok- 
en her bonds, and advances to threaten Ihe integri- 
ty of the French empire ? When the greatest part 
of Europe, degraded and despoiled by the French 
Buler, serves him with a revolting heart, and fix- 
ing her eyes upon us, awaits with impatience the 
signal for universal freedom ! When even France 
herself wishes in vain, and dares not anticipate an 
end to the bloody war whose only motive is bound- 
less ambition ! When the oppressed world looks 
to us for ail example and a stimulus, shall we shrink 
from the high commission ? No ; we bow before 
the hand that anoints us to be the leaders of the na- 
tions in the cause of freedom and of virtue. 

" Surely the afHictions of tlie human race have at 
length reached their utmost point I We have only 
to look round us on this spot, to behold the calami- 
ties of war, and the cruelties of ambition in theii* 
estremest horrors. But we brave them for our lib- 
erties ; we brave them for mankind. We feel the 
blessed cor-sciousness of actinsf risfht, and that im- 



13i 

mortal honour must be the meed of a nation wiio^ 
by endurini^ the evils of a ruthless war and deter- 
minately resisting their perpetrator, compels a du- 
rable peace, not only for itself, but for the unhap- 
py countries the tyrant had forced to fight in his 
cause ! It is noble, it is worthy of a great people, 
thus to return good for evil. 

" All-powerful God ! The cause for which we 
fight, is it not just ? Look down then with an eye 
of mercy upon thy sacred church ! Preserve the 
strength and constancy of thy people ! May they 
triumph over their adversary and thine ! May they 
be instruments in thy hand for his destruction I 
and, in rescuing themselves, may they rescue the 
liberty and the independence of nations and of kings ! 
(Signed) ' Alexander." 



Moscow, whose magnificence and hospitality 
had for ages been the admiration of Europe ; she 
who had given laws to conquerors and seen nations 
suing to her for protection ; she was fated to be 
trodden under foot, by a man of obscure birth ; by 
a self-crowned despot, raised by his own daring 
spirit to the throne of Charlemagne. Not content 
with the power annexed to one diadem, his insatia- 
ble ambition hurried him from West to East, from 
South to North, to trample on the rights of sove- 
reigns, and to make the liberties of every people 
his prey. Tbe extended territories of Russia, the 
capital of her vast empire, excited his avidity ; 
and spreading desolation in his path, he entered the 
city of the Tzars. The palaces and the people at 
once disappeared ; and the scene became one spec- 
tacle of murder, devastation, and famine. 

From the day on which his Imperial Majesty 
had visited the ancient seat of his empire, to sum- 
mon, from the throne of his ancestors, his subjects 
to give their utmost support against the imparal- 



132 

leled aggressions of this war. Count Rastapchin, 
the military governor of the city, was unremitting 
in his labours to prepare for the worst. He armed 
and organized every class of individuals, and is- 
sued timely orders for the removal of every thing 
in the capital that might be an acceptable spoil to 
the enemy. The archieves of the empire and the 
nobility, the treasures of the Kremlin, and of the 
public institutions, were taken to places of safety. 
He likewise recommended to the princes, and oth- 
(Or nobles resident in Moscow, that they should 
transport their valuables to a distance ; and so, in 
case of disaster putting the city into the hands of 
the enemy, he might derive no advantage from his 
conquest, 

The destruction of Smolenzk had filled many of 
the inhabitants of Moscow with apprehensions for 
the late of the objects dearest to them ; and they 
lost no time in dispatching their wives and families 
to distant provinces, while they themselves remain- 
ed, determined to stand by the tombs of their fa- 
thers to the last gasp of their lives. Count Ras- 
tapchin, whose intrepidity and personal sacrifices 
reflect so much honour on his patriotism, left no- 
thing unsaid, or example untried, that might im- 
Eart confidence to these disinterested men. While 
e frankly acknowledged the situation in which the 
city stood, he declared there was no cause for im- 
mediate apprehension ; but he pledged himself that 
should it be immediately endangered, he would 
lose not a moment in giving full intimation to the 
inhabitants. The feeble, from age and sex, might 
then retire to refuge ; while he hoped the citizen, 
yet strong in manhood, would not require a second 
call to range himself under the banners of his sove- 
reign, and to join the heroes who were resolved to 
repel the invader, or to die in the contest. 

During these preparations in the Imperial city, 
the French continued to advance. They arrived at 
Porogobouche, Wiazma, and Gchatz, and was 



133 

even heard of on their Avay to Mojaisk. The effect 
of this intelligence, in spite of the precautionary 
encouragements of Rastapchin, infused an alarm- 
ing panic into the women, and weaker characters 
amongst the people of Moscow. A thousand ex- 
aggerated reports were spread abroad, a thousand 
idle stories were invented to increase the dismay of 
the fearful ; which at last became so dangerous as 
to demand a scrutiny ; and then it was discovered 
that, notwithstanding the vigilance of the police, a 
band of secret emissaries from the invader had in- 
sinuated themselves into the circles of tlie capital, 
and were the primary sources of these appalling 
fictions. The traitors were seized, and sent to re- 
pent of their treachery in Siberia ; while the peo- 
ple, who had been terrified by their representa- 
tions, either withdrew to distant cities, or reposed 
themselves on the word of the Governor, to ac- 
quaint them whenever danger should really ap- 
proach. 

The happy appointment of Prince Koutousoff* 
to be Commander-in-chief, supported the encoura- 
ging promises of Rastapchin, and awakened double 
confidence in the people. 

The battle of Borodino was fought and the vic- 
tory won ; but it was a victory drenched in blood ; 
it was a victory that pointed from steep to steep : 
terrible were the perils yet to overcome. The pre- 
servation of the empire depended on one great de- 
cision. The onward path, in the judgment of most 
opinions, lay in maintaining the possession of Mos- 
cow. Koutousoff* found few to coincide with his 
alternative ; but he had the magnanimity to throw 
his whole reputation, the renown of seventy years, 
into the scale of his country ; and he resolved on 
sacrificing the capital of the Tzars, to the preser- 
vation of their empire. 

Dispatches to this effect were sent to Count Ras- 
tapchin. 

The fatal news spread through the whole town. 



134 

JS^othing can paint the confusion and distressing 
scenes which ensued. The houses echoed with 
shrieks and groans. Mothers and wives were sepa- 
rating themselves from their sons and husbands, 
who were determined to follow the steps of their 
Governor, or to abide in their native city while one 
stone remained on another. Children were weep- 
ing their last adieus to their fathers ; and the sick 
and the aged refused to be carried away, to die far 
distant from their paternal altars and their parents' 
tombs. The streets and the avenues were erow<J- 
ed with carts and carriages of all descriptions, fil- 
led with old and young ; some lying prostrate, in 
insensibility after the struggles of separation ; and 
others making the air re-echo with their cries against 
the tyrant whose invasion divorced them from their 
homes. Many thousand wretched beings who had 
not means of seeking safety, w^ere compelled to fly 
on foot from the expected advance of the pitiless 
foe. The so lately happy city of Moscow, now 
poured forth from her agonised bosom weeping 
multitudes of her desolate children. Some fled to 
friends at a distance ; others knew not where to go,, 
but sought a refuge from the enemy, in the com- 
passionate charity of the neighbouring provinces. 
Many turned on their steps ; some women, clinging 
to the objects of their tenderest vows, found it im- 
possible to desert the spot which they staid to de- 
fend ; and many old men tottered back to their pa- 
ternal sheds, exclaiming, " where we Avere born 
and nourished, there will we lay us down and die !'* 

The final orders of the Military Governor were 
given. In vain he besought the remnant of the in- 
habitants he still saw, to accompany his march ; 
they wept their refusal, but were firm ; and, the 
cause of his country forbidding his longer delay, 
he made the signal, and, at the head of forty thou-' 
sand brave citizens, completely armed, he quitted 
the city to join the army of the Commander-in-chief. 

The few who now remained, and had strength to, 



135 

assemble in one spot ; the feeble from age, and the 
tender from affection, the devoted patriot, and the 
desperate avenger ; they met in a little band, de- 
termined to expire in the flames of the city, rather 
than behold its sacred towers become the bulwarks 
of the assassins who had desolated their homes and 
murdered their peace. 

On the 14th of September at mid*day, the enemy 
appeared before the walls of Moscow. His ad- 
vanced guard, under the command of Murat and 
Beauharnois, entered the gates with all the pride 
and pomp of conquest. The troops moved towards 
the Kremlin. A part of the self-devoted citizens 
had taken refuge there ; and closing the gates, des- 
perately attempted its defence by a discharge of 
their muskets. Feeble were barriers of stone and 
iron against a host ; the gates were instantly forced, 
and the brave victims of patriotism massacred upon 
the floors of their ancient fortress. 

Scarcely had the murderous act been perpetra- 
ted, when the pyres of loyalty were lighted, and 
Moscow appeared at different quarters in flames. 
The French troops, as they poured into the devo- 
ted city, had spread themselves in every direction 
in search of plunder ; and in their progress they 
committed outrages so horrid on the persons of all 
whom they discovered, that fathers, desperate to 
save their children from pollution, would set fire to 
their place of refuge, and find a surer asylum in 
its flames. 

The streets, the houses, the cellars, flowed w^ith 
blood, and Avere filled v/ith violation and carnage. 
Manhood seemed to be lost in the French soldier ; 
for nothing was to be discerned in him but the wild 
beast ravening for prey ; or ratberihe fiend of hell, 
gluttening himself in the commig^n of every hor- 
rible crime. The fires lit by me wantonness of 
these marauders, mingled with the burning sacrifi- 
ces of the expiring people ; and the ruffians passed 
like demons through the flames, sacking private 



136 

dwellings, and public repositories, and when they 
yielded no more, they turned their sacrilegious 
steps to the pillage of the churches. The horrors 
of Smolenzk were re-acted in the sanctuaries of 
Moscow. Altars were again soiled with blood ; 
sacred vessels broken and carried away ; the relics 
of saints profaned ; and even the dead disturbed in 
search of hidden treasures. 

Whilst these enormities were committing, Buo- 
naparte remained in the barrier leading to the Smo- 
lenzk road, impatiently awaiting the circumstance 
which he had determined should precede his trium- 
phant entry into Moscow\ He deferred that pomp- 
ous ceremony until the autJiorities of the city should 
arrive in deputation to invite his entrance ! He 
looked again and again towards its walls ; all seem-' 
ed busy there, but nothing presented itself in the 
form he expected. The afternoon came and yet no 
person appeared. He then took the resolution of 
sending a Polish General into the town, to suggest 
to the citizens the desired deputation. The General 
proceeded on his errand ; and enquiring his w ay of 
a resident foreigner whom chance brought in his 
path, he was conducted by this stranger to the palace 
which had been the seat of government ; then to the 
police-office, and afterwards to the house of the 
Governor-general. In short he made his guide 
lead him to every place where he might have any 
expectation of meeting a public functionary ; but 
the search was in vain. He returned to Napoleon 
w^iihthe information, that no legal authorities re- 
mained in Moscow ; that the city was already a 
desart, and w^ould soon be a heap of ruins. This 
was the first time that the tyrant's expectations had 
been disappointed in the homage he anticipated 
fi'om a captive city. No farce of a deputation, no 
keys presented, no plaudits of the moderation of 
the conqueror, w^ere offered to the advancing Ceesar ! 
Not one shadow of respect presented itself, wiorthy 
a bulletin or a Moniteur ! However the invader of 



137 

Russia would not quite relinquish his preposterous 
fiopes. He flattered himself that on the next day 
the resident foreigners at least, would collect some 
of the terrified natives, and imiting themselves 
with them in the form of a representation of the 
city, would furnish him with some materials for 
publishing a triumph. In this expectation he took 
up his quarters for that night in the Petrofsky pal- 
ace, about a mile from the St. Petersburgh barrier. 
The wished-for morning broke, the noon succeeded 
it, and still no trace of a coming deputation could 
be discerned. Incensed at this double disappoint- 
ment, he at last gave up the expectation ; and, 
giving orders for his guard to proceed, he entered 
the town in sullen silence. Without the beating of 
drums, the discharge of cannon, or any of the pa- 
rade with which he usually gratified the pride of 
his army, he took possession of the capital of the 
■Tzars ! The feelings attending the accomplisiiment 
of this long-anticipated enterprise, w^ere like those 
of Satan on the destruction of Paradise. The fiend 
was received with hisses by his damned crew ; and. 
the desolator of Russia found no otlier acclaim, 
€ven from his own followers, than the shrieks of 
the unhappy victims they were immolating to their 
fury. 

He repaired to the Kremlin ; and taking posses- 
sion of the great fortress of the empire, with every 
vengeful passion threatening from his countenance, 
he called around his most confidential officers, and 
=expr€ssed to them his indignation at the manner he 
had been received. These base satelites, taking 
their tone from his rage, enlarged on the opposition 
his soldiers had to quell in the town ; and pronoun- 
ced the noble contempt with which the few remain- 
ing inhabitants had treated their master, as an af- 
front that demanded the most exemplary punish- 
ment. 

Scarcely had Napoleon arrived in the palace of 
the Tzarg^ when, in the midst of his bloody cojnsul- 

18 



138 

tation, a fire was announced to have broken out 
close to its walls, in the very Kremlin. His fury 
now kn€w no boimds. He denounced the direst 
vengeance against the perpetrators ; and ordered 
every person that could be suspected, or Russian 
found near the spot, to be seized and brought before 
him. One hundred brave Muscovites were soon in 
the power of his guards, and hurried to the pres- 
eoce of the tyrant, on the ground near the cathe- 
dral which fronts tlie palace. 

They were interrogated respecting the deed, and 
who had prompted them to it. They were prom- 
ised life, and an absolute pardon from all punish- 
ment, if they would confess to these questions, and 
swear allegiance to Napoleon. A stern silence was 
observed by all. Again and again they were in- 
terrogated ; and still, from them, not a word was 
i^poken. 

The tyrant's patience was exhausted ; and find- 
ing that neither threats nor promises could shake 
the fidelity of these men to their sovereign, he gave 
the order, and they were immediately butchered. 
In the moment of death each stepped before the 
other, first to receive the shaft that was to separate 
him from his companion. With calmness in their 
countenances, and fortitude in their demeanor, 
they simply made the sign of the cross upon their 
breast, and fell under the stroke of their assassins^. 
The author of their fate dared not look upon them ; 
bill he listened with exultation to the firing of the 
imndred balls which, successively, deprived the 
daimlless band of existence. 

This cruel massacre soon became knawn to the 
wretched remains of the inhabitants ; and, while 
detestation of the act doubly envenomed their har 
tred of Napoleon, they repeated their oaths soon- 
er to die than to acknowledge his authority. Both 
sexes joined in the vow ; and then, with tears of 
despair they divided, to seek a temporary refuge 
in the. cellars, and amongst the smoking ruins ojf 



139 

^ch- once happy dwellings. During the night they 
^ometimes met torepledge their faith to each oth- 
€r ; but in the day, scaicely a native of the city 
was to be seen. 

Notwithstanding the terrific example which the 
French leader had made of the hundred Musco- 
vites whom he supposed had set fire to the Krem- 
lin, he yet feared a repetition of the attempt. from 
others of the people ; and to take every precau- 
tion for his security, he ordered all the gates to be 
kept close shut, with the single exception of that 
which opens to Nicolisky street, and by which no 
one should enter but the ofHcers highest in his con- 
fidence. Thus did the dread of a few loyal spirits, 
(too few to emerge from their secret hiding places !) 
hold tlie invader of their country a prisoner, even 
in the centre of his vaunted conquests ! Do we 
not in this, see that there are times in which even 
the most successful guilt will stand in awe of vir- 
tue ? It is to be deplored that her power is not 
more often tried. 

The fire which had been lit in the Kremlin, found 
answering beacons throughout the whole range of 
the circles which comprised the city of Moscow. 
The conflagration continued to spread in every di- 
rection, and with its devouring flames, augmented 
the horrors of night. The soldiers, regardless of 
order or discipline, and instigated by the example 
of too many of their officers, seized every occasion 
v>'hich these scenes presented, to pillage and destroy. 
Buonaparte beheld the increasing destruction with 
uneasiness, least the ungovernable progress of the 
flames should wrest from him the glory of posses- 
sing Moscow, by the utter consumption of the city. 
To avert this blow to his pride, he commanded his 
Generals to leave no means untried to extinguish 
the thousand fires by which he was enveloped. His 
orders were sedulously obeyed ; but it was not un- 
til the 20th of the month that the fierceness of the 
flames ceased to rasre. 



140 

The pklure, drawn of the coiiimeilcement of 
these calamities, by a sharer in them, and one who 
was an eye-witness of their horrors, is a faithful 
representation, and I will subjoin it. 

" From the night of yesterday (September 14th) 
until that of the 19th, the fire blazed in all quar- 
ters. It broke out near the Foundling Hospital, 
and then, almost immediately, on the side of the. 
city close to the stone bridge, and in the neigh- 
bourhood of the place w^hich the king of Naples 
selected for his residence. A third, and more ex- 
tensive fire, burst out and spread itself along the 
face of the centre of the town. The inhabitants 
beheld their burning houses with a resignation 
which could only proceed from the belief that they 
should not long survive their destruction. The 
conviction that their losses would be deprivati6n to 
the enemy also ; that in the fiiames perished bis 
most important resources ; was the trancjuilizer of 
every regret. New fires broke forth wherever the 
French soldiers directed their ruthless steps. Wo- 
men cast themselves into the flames to escape viola* 
tion ; and the blood of the brave Muscovite was 
Vainly shed to extinguish fires kindled by his patri- 
ot hands. 

" On the morning of the third day after the en- 
trance of these robbers, a violent wind arose, and 
then indeed the conflagration became general. In 
less than an hour the whole extent of the capital, 
for many wersts, seemed a sheet of flame. All the 
immense tract of land above the river, which used 
to be covered with houses, was one sea of fire ; 
and the sky was hidden from our eyes by the tre- 
mendous volumes of smoke which r-olled over the 
city, 

♦' Direful asr was this calamity, though it even 
menaced the lives of our destroyers, yet they felt 
no pity, not a touch of remorse came near their ob- 
durate hearts. Still they pursued the search of 



141 

plunder ; still they heaped crime upon crime ; and^ 
deepened, with every act of cruelty, the tremen-: 
dous horrors of the scene. 

" Surely the Almighty Judge, in his utmost 
wrath, never before presented so awful a spectacle 
to mankind ! 

" Through billows of fire, upon every elevated 
spot, hundreds of the blood-thii'sty robbers were 
seen chasing their unhappy victims to nameless 
outrages, and to more welcome death. Where was 
there an asylum for suffering human nature ? 
Where for feeble age sinking from the impending 
torture ? Where for the bleeding limbs of the 
young patriot ? Where for the frantic maid flying 
from the grasp of the lawless ruffian ? There wag 
no refuge on earth ; and guilt, for a time, had it^ 
triumph. Napoleon, from the windows of the 
Kremlin, must have contemplated the progress of 
this deluge of destruction. While he shuddered, 
for his own sake, at the stormy ocean of fire swel^ 
Jing and sinking, and urging its waves towards him, 
he must assuredly have been visited by some 
thoughts to remind him that he was a vulnerable 
man ; that an hour would come when he must ac- 
count for the scene before him, to the Being by 
whom himself, and all the creatures now perishing 
by his means, were alike created ! If ever his con- 
science has spoken to him, if ever it has made itself 
heard, it was in one of these dreadful nights. The 
flames of Moscow, must have been to him, the 
torch of the furies." 

Whatever might have been the private feelings 
of this chief of banditti, he was aware of the ne- 
cessity of preserving some place of shelter for his 
followers during the approaching inclement season ; 
and to secure what had escaped the united devasta- 
tion of sacrifice and of rapine, he attempted to in- 
stitute a civil authority and a police. He who had 
unyoked the demons of Ucentiousoess and robbery^ 



142 

now felt alarm lest the effects of their blind fury 
should recoil upon himself ; and to ensure his own 
safety, he was at last obliged to fix limits to aggres- 
sion on others. 

After making several ineffectual efforts, some- 
times menacing, and at other times alluring by 
promises, he at length persuaded certain individu- 
als to take on them so desperate a duty, and to form 
themselves into a municipal body. Monsieur Les- 
seps, who had once been the French Consul-general 
at Saint Petersburgb, (and whose exertions deserv- 
ed the credit of having gained this point) was ap- 
pointed Intendant of the Province of IVL icow. 
Active as were the officers of this necessary au- 
thority, it was so novel a thing that the objects of 
it hardly acknoAvledged its power ; and robbery 
and murder continued to stalk abroad with as dar- 
ing fronts as ever. Even these new magistrates, as 
they went about in discharge of their offices, were 
affi'onted, assailed, and beaten to their quarters 
with insult. Every corps of the army, marching 
in from the camp without the barriers, could prove 
the same right to plunder, as that which had been 
exercised by those whose good fortune had sent 
them first into tJie field of pillage. NAPOLEON 
HAD PROMISED THEM THE TREASURES 
OF MOSCOW! 

After the capture of Smolenzk, and the disap- 
pointment sustained there by the removal of its 
riches. Napoleon had decided on making an at- 
tempt upon Moscow ; and, should he carry the 
place, to devote the wealth of its princes and its 
people to the avidity of his soldiers. With this 
view, and to appease the murmurs that reached 
his ear respecting the unsatisfied wants of the army, 
he announced to them that Moscow was his next 
object ; that his troops should winter there ; and 
that, from the bosom of its abundance, while his 
soldiers were imbibing new strength from its full 
stores, he would dictate terms of peace to the Em- 



143 

peror Alexander, and fix the glory of France on a 
pinnacle that would irradiate the whole world. 

While on his march, and perceiving the spires 
and minarets of Moscow at a distance, he-pointed 
to them and exclaimed to his follow^ers :~~" Behold 
the end of your campaign ! Its gold, and its plen- 
ty, are yours." 

It was to these promises he owed his present em- 
barrassment. How could he chastise the ravages 
to Avhich he had given his license ? and how could 
he hope to conciliate any part of a people whose fel- 
low-citizens he abandoned to the most wanton de- 
struction ? To extirpate is not to conquer. And 
the services of the conquered would be too useful 
to him in his proposed advances to the subjugation 
of the empire, to allow him to witness the calami- 
ties of Moscow without seeming to check their tide. 
To do it in reality was beyond even the power of 
Buonaparte ; and, what he could not remedy, he 
sought to excuse by publishing an apology for mil- 
itary robbery ! This manoeuvre produced no other 
effect than to develops to all parties the convenient 
political morality of its author. 

The fire was at last extinguished ; but the w^orlc 
of desolation still continued in the sacking of the 
place, committing violences in the streets, and defy- 
ing the civil authorities. To oppose this insubor- 
dination. Napoleon had resort to placards and pro- 
clamations ; and finding them despised, he w^ent 
so far as to have two or three of the most atrocious 
offenders shot. When even this small show of jus- 
tice appeared amongst their enemies, some few of 
the poor inhabitants, perishing with hunger, took 
heart, and crept from the obscure recesses in which 
they had lain concealed. But what a change had 
taken place during their short retreat ! Moscow 
was no longer to be recognised. Nothing remain- 
ed of this once magnificent city, but a vast plain, 
covered with ruins and smoking ashes ! Every where 
the dilapidated streets were choked up with human 



144 

bodies, and the carcases of dead borsef . And yet 
there was a more direful spectacle to behold ; 
-wretched fathers and husbands, running to and fro, 
seeking from the murdered heaps the mangled re- 
tnains of their wives and daughters ! Others rushed 
wildly from their coverts, demanding something to 
appease the cravings of famishing nature ! And 
isome exhausted by want and misery, without a mur- 
mur, or turning even an eye of supplication to their 
oppressors, fell extended on the earth, expiring on 
the native soil to which they had devoted their ex- 
ist ent«. 

Thus, day after day, increased the distresses of 
this venerable city. But while tyranny trampled 
-it in the dust, he did not escape feeling some part 
of the injury he inflicted. In the rencontres of 
licentiousness, and the assassination of the helpless 
people, the French soldiers forgot how to use their 
arms in the open field. Though full of threats and 
bombast, all their exploits during their stay at Mos- 
cow, may be summed up in a few reconnoitering 
shirmishes, and two or three abortive attempts to 
procure provisions. 



To haVe a clear apprehension of the succeeding 
transactions of the campaign, it will be necessary to 
recapitulate, en train, a few circumstances alrejldy 
noticed. 

After the battle of Borodino, Prince KoutousofT 
continued his march from the scene of his victory 
without any molestation ; and on the 13th of Sep- 
tember halted about three wersts from Moscow, 
where he held a council of war ; the decisions of 
which have been already stated in the paper he ad- 
dressed from Gilino to his Imperial Majesty. 

Having balanced every sacrifice with its coitcs- 
ponding advantage, and settled all preliminaries to 
meet the necessity of abandoning the metropolis^ 



145 

early in the morning of the 14th he parted from its 
gallant Governor, the magnanimous Rastapchin, 
and marched through the city to the barrier of Ka- 
lumna. He passed that boundary, and by affecting 
certain dispositions amused tiie enemy, whilst in 
reality he took up the ground he had predetermin- 
ed to occupy to the southward of the town. 

According to the arrangement between the Com- 
mander-in-chief and the Governor of Moscow, be- 
fore the French approached the city the whole of 
the sick and wounded, who were able to bear mo- 
tion, were taken away and carried to places of safe- 
ty. Amongst these involuntary fugitives, was the 
brave and ever-to-be-lamented Prince Bragation. 
He died as he had lived, amidst the glory of his 
actions, and was buried in the way to Yarrasjaff 
with every mark of honour due to his virtues. Gal- 
lant and amiable Bragation ! What has been said 
of the heroic Bayard may as truly be affirmed of 
thee. " Thou wert without fear or reproach !" 

After the Russian army had made two move- 
ments by the Way of Gilino, it crossed the river 
Moscva near Koulakova. At a distance of eight 
or nine wersts it began its flank dispositions by 
forced marches, and on the 18th of the month 
reached the city of Podol. The rear-guard which 
had been left along the bank of the Pocra, had or- 
ders to follow the direction of the main airmy ; but 
previously to detach a strong body of Cossacs to 
make such false demonstrations as would induce 
the enemy to imagine that the whole mass of troops 
were moving on Kalumna. This manoeuvre had 
the desired effect ; for the French believing these 
Cossacs were the covering parties of the rear-guard, 
dispatched a formidable force towards them ; and 
they conducted themselves with such ability and 
resolution, that the movements of the main army 
were completely concealed, and the enemy so de- 
ceived by their demonstrations, that he directed 
his attention to no other point. Bo ably was this 

19 



146 

feint executed, that it lasted for several days, and 
allowed the Commander-in-chief to pass without 
the smallest disturbance, to his selected position 
tipon the ancient road leading to Kaloiiga. 

He arrived on this commanding line on the 23d, 
and stationed his head-qiiarters at the village of 
Krasnoy-Prdcra. By this position, his right stretch- 
ed across the T&ula road ; his left, beyond the 
Kalotiga new road ; and his centre occupied the old 
i^oad. This arrangement planted a bulwark of in- 
Tincible patriots between the richest Russian prov- 
inces and the enemy ; shutting him completely, out 
from their abundant fields and oppulent cities. 
The Orel also, hy this admirable position, was bar- 
ted from him ; and every long-cherished hope of 
drawing suppliesffom that quarter, he was obliged 
now to abandon. 

Besides these judicious stiitions for his main ar^ 
my, Koutousoff detached a large body of troops 
under Major-General Dochtorotf, towards Moja- 
rsk, to act on the rear of the French. He also 
sent several corps of Cosi5acs and hUssars to inter- 
cept the reinforcements and convoys that might be 
on their way to join the enemy in Moscow, Thus 
were the dillerent divisions of the Russian army 
appointed at this awful crisis of the empire ; and 
in the trying hour, happy were those whose cour- 
age was jfiit to meet death alone. Agonies more 
severe than the most torturing deaths, did they en- 
dure, who bore the iron which entered their very 
souls, as they stood at their posts within sight of 
Moscow, and beheld the horrors of that devoted 
city. . 

The account which the French bulletin gives of 
this n>ovement of Koutousoff, is particularly curi- 
ous ; not for its military view of the matter, but 
from the tarn which the writer wishes to give to tlie 
demeanor of the Russian army on witnessing the 
conflasralion of their ancient metropolis. 



147 

•* The Russian army," observes this jotirnallst, 
** on evacuating the Kalomna road, made a tour of 
half the city, at a distance of six worsts. The 
wind setting in this direction, drove volumes of fire 
and smoke tipon them. Our niarchi a Russian of- 
ficer is reported to have said, jvas a march of 
gloom J of smoke and of rdigioii. Dismay filled 
€very breast; and we hecmnt so penttraied with lior^ 
ror, both officers and men, that the most profound 
nkfice reigned throughout the army, a silence as if 
all were at prayer. ^^ 

If this remark were ever . made, out of the pa- 
ges in which we find it, the speaker must have been 
a Frenchman ; for, no man in the Russian army 
could have mistaken the awful silence of that march. 
It was the silence of men, called upon to immolate 
the objects dearest to them, for the preservation of 
their country. It was the silence of men witnessing 
the sacrifice of these objects in the raging fires of 
Moscow. There perished the homes of their fa- 
thers, the endearments of domestic love ; ^11 that 
is precious to the parent, to the husband, and to 
the friend ! Can men have hearts and mistake the 
cause of the profound silence of the Russian sol* 
diers, as they moved on and beheld this scene ? 
Where is the superstition, (for this report would 
Bo insinuate of religion !) of breathing a prayer at 
such a moment ?j In beholding this demoniac proof 
of man's ambitious enmity against man, where cap 
the outraged spirit turn with more reason, than to 
invoke the God of mercy for objects so dear? 
Awe, and not dismay, true religion, and not mi- 
|)erstitious gloom, then occupied the minds of the 
Russian army : and, while their prayers called on 
Heaven to pity the devoted city, they could hardly 
fail from adding a. cry for retribution "^^ on the heads 
of W\^ first authors of all these miseries." 

The fall of Moscow, as the veteran Commandej- 
jn-cliief ^xpre?9ed himself, was not that of the eonn- 



148 

try. The enemy's aim had been to strike at the 
heart of the empire, and he had made the blow, 
but the wound was not mortal. " Moscow is not 
Russia !" exclaimed every voice, " The empire ex- 
ists in ourselves !" The Imperial Alexander, wor- 
thy of commanding such a people, sympathized 
with their enthusiasm; and seeing the salvation of 
the state in their heroic faith, reiterated the senti- 
ment, " It is the end which crowns the toil !" 

The army of Koutousoff augmented its numbers 
every day ; and in a few weeks the army of the in- 
vader was in a state of blockade. Every hand was 
raised against him, every device put in execution 
to reduce him to extremity. Thousands of the 
brave men left their ploughs to rangh. themselves 
under the banners of their country ; and those who 
came not to the regular lines, armed themselves in 
the best manner they could ; and dispersing them- 
selves over the roads and by-ways, the woods and 
the ravines, hunted out the foraging parties of the 
enemy with the most deadly diligence and revenge. 
Hordes of troops were continually arriving from 
the foot of the Caucasus, and from the shores of 
the Caspian. The farthest dominions of the empire 
pressed forward their sons to avenge the ruin of the 
Imperial City, and to convince its desolaters that 
Alexander reigned in the hearts of all his people. 
Bashkirs, Calmucs, and Tartars, crowded from the 
east and the south to swell the glorious host destin- 
ed to rid the empire of its proud invaders. 

The Cossacs of the Don, not satisfied with the 
proofs of loyalty they were already giving in the 
field under the brave Hetman, had prepared an ar- 
mament of reserve from amongst the veterans who 
had served their limited time, and their youth of 
an age to bear arms. Twenty of these regiments, 
(the old eager to renew the transports of victory ; 
and the young, to begin the contest) were ready to 
march at a few hours' notice. Six pieces of flying 
artillery were to accompany them to the field. 



149 

Independent of this force, not only raised but 
equipped, on the banks of their native river, ano- 
ther was to be formed in the same quarter under 
the direction of the nobility of No vogorode. They 
presented them with fifteen hundred horses ; and 
the Cossac merchants, residing in that city, made 
a subscription amongst themselves, amounting to 
ninety-three thousand six hundred roubles, to fur- 
nish a:rms for their brave countrymen. In fact, but 
one feeling seemed to animate the souls of every 
Russian subject. To give all that he possessed on 
earth, in exchange for the liberty of the empire : 
his property, his affections, his life. Never did 
Europe, or the world, behold so determined, so 
universal, so concentrated a spirit of patriotism. 



The French army, after having lost sight of the 
Russian force, (a body of one hundred and fifty 
thousand men !) for many days, at length, to their 
astonishment, found it close to their rear; and 
made the discovery at the very time when their 
advanced parties were rambling about, at a con- 
siderable distance^ in search of it. The General- 
aide-de-camp, Baron Vinzingorode, being on the 
opposite side of Moscow, at Twer, had pushed his 
troops forward upon the roads in so many direc- 
tions, that his right detachments reached the quar- 
ter of Mojaisk, and acted in concert with those 
which had been dispatched from the main army on 
the Kalouga road. By these able, prompt, and, 
to the enemy, unexpected manoeuvres, almost an 
entire circle was formed round the French at Mos- 
cow. 

While we feel*the praise that ought to be given 
to the Russian General for these movements, we 
cannot easily comprehend how one of so renowned 
military abilities as Buonaparte, (and aided too by 
such experienced officers,) could have allowed him- 



150 

self fo remain in ignorance 6f motions so decisive 
of liis fate. In this crisis he appears to, have lost 
the penetration of a General, which leads him ta 
Calculate with tolerable certainty on the probable 
movements of his opponent. And, either he must 
have been strangely negligent of seeking the ne- 
cessary information, or those he employed were 
Very erroneous in their observations and reports. 
The infatuation which sometimes falls upon even 
the greatest men in the most critical juncture of 
their affairs, is often as wonderful to the observer 
as it is fatal to the subject of its influence. 

On the discovery of the near neighbourhood of 
the Russian position, a considerable part of the 
French army formed itself close under the walls of 
Moscow, and placed strong divisions on the re- 
spective roads, from that of Kalumna to that of 
Saint Petersburgh. 

Tlie advanced gvard of KoutousofF's aftB*^ Was 
stationed in a parallel direction to these positions 
of the enemy, about ten wersts in their front, and 
as far as the new Kalouga road. 

Thus were the French involved by the lines of 
Russia, as the tyger is entangled in the meshes of 
.the snare by which he is caught. Moscow which 
was to be the palace from which the conqueror of 
ihe world had decreed he would issue his irreversi- 
ble mandates, was now his prison ; and, in the 
midst of his field-marshals and his legions, the 
Oreat Napoleon found himself out-general led and 
^ captive. Disappointment and consternation spread 
throughout the invading army. Little else had they 
derived from the merciless sacking of the Russian 
capital, than blood, and an accession of guilt. 
Pressed with wants of every description, in vain 
did they look with longing eyes ti^ards that France 
so few of them were'to see again ; and on the Way 
to which, they now saw nothing but Russian troops 
intercepting their couriers, their reinforcements, and 
their provisions, Thus, their military fame eclipi- 



151 

ed, and their very existence menaced, by the foe 
they had so lately threatened to annihilate, they 
cried aloud for that peace which their proud leader 
had promised them should be entreated by the con- 
quered Russians at the gates of Moscow. 

Buonaparte, as he had waited at the barrier of 
the city for an invitation from its functionaries to 
bless them with his presence, now waited for the 
heads of the Russian government to beg at his hands 
the olive branch of peace. In both cases — he wait- 
ed in vain. No flags of truce anived. No gymp' 
toms whatever were evinced of a, disposition in the 
nation to compromise* its glory and its independence. 
Nor could he find one friend, amongst the number 
he boasted to possess in the empire, to lead the w ay 
in bowing to the yoke of deception and slavery. 
No art was left untried, no temptation unpractised, 
to allure some individual to set the base example ; 
but disappointment waited upon every attempt ; 
and the tyrant was forced to see that he had to do 
^vith a Sovereign and a people determined to die 
father than to submit. 

Buonaparte, having allowed these vain expecta- 
tions to usurp the time he might have actively used 
for the service of his ambition, saw with increased 
mortification that the delay had only augmented 
his embarrassments by doubling the distresses of 
the army. The vigilance of the Russian light 
troops continued to cut off all the convoys and 
succours which attempted to reach Moscow by the 
way of Smolenzk ; and the small means of subsist- 
ence which had been found in the capital, being 
nearly exhausted, famine and disease began to 
stalk in visible shapes before his eyes. 

The French soldiers bore their privations at first 
with gloomy desperation. But when the suffering3 
of extreme hunger, and its attendant ilk, assailed 
them, then their patience was exhausted ; and their 
idolatrous adoration of the man who had brought 
them into these miseries, was changed to disi*e- 



152 

spectj to indignation, to loud demands for the pro- 
mised reward of their military toils, for Plenty ^ or 
for Peace! No remonstrances, no flatteries, no 
threatenings, from the creatures of Napoleon, 
could longer hold the despairing army within the 
bounds of discipline. Mutiny and pillage broke 
every restriction. Every day thousands of famish- 
ing soldiers left their camp, and entered the city, 
to break into houses and magazines, and seek by 
force for means to satisfy the cravings of hunger 
unto madness. Others, in troops, without orders, 
and despising the commands that would withhold 
them, dispersed themselves oyer the country, ma- 
rauding every where in search of bread. Blood 
tracked their steps ; for scattered in a hundred direc- 
tions in quest of food or death, almost every where 
these unhappy wretches were lost. Those in re- 
mote places were sacrificed to the rage of the am- 
bushed peasantry; and these who appeared in pub- 
lic ways, were cut down by the numerous Cossacs 
which scoured the roads. 

Necessity, at last, forced even the dominant 
pride of Napoleon ; and jfinding that Russia would 
not take the part of the suppliant, he felt himself 
reduced to offer, what he wished should be asked 
as a boon ; and making a show of particular con- 
cern for the peace of Mankind, he condescended 
to dispatch General Lauriston (the ci-devant am- 
bassador at the Court of St. Petersburgh) with a 
flag of truce to the Russian head-quarters. His 
errand was to attempt, at least to open a negotia- 
tion with Prince KoutousofT. He was received by 
the Russian Commander with every mark of polite- 
ness, but not with a cordiality to invite the unfold- 
ing of his mission. However, on being officially 
interrogated as to the purport of his visit, he told 
the Prince that he came in the name of the Empe- 
ror Napoleon, who was actuated by considerations of 
humanity alone and a desire to stop the effusion of 
Russian blood, to communicate to their Command- 



153 

er-in-chief, that his imperial Majesty of France 
was still willing to treat for a renewal of friendship 
between the two empires. 

The Prince replied, by telling Lauriston to say 
to his master, that with respect to sparing the effu- 
sion of Russian blood, every man born in Russian 
land, was ready to shed his blood in support of the 
independence of the empire ; and to maintain it, 
both his Imperial Majesty Alexander, and the na- 
tion at large, were determined never to listen to 
one pacific word, whilst a foreign soldier remained 
within the frontiers of their country. 

Having received this answer, the French Gene^ 
ral was not permitted to press the subject farther ; 
but the safe conduct was given to him, and he re- 
turned full of chagrin to his master. 

Buonaparte would hardly listen to the end of the 
conference. He expressed violent indignation at 
what he termed the insolence of the Russian Com- 
mander ; who, he expected, would have felt him- 
self tbo much honoured by the overture, not at 
least to open a negotiation. However, great as 
was the French leader's resentment against Kou- 
tousoff, the necessity for not driving his troops 
quite to despair, was yet greater; and therefore 
he tried to flatter his Generals that the desired pa- 
cification would take place Avhenever his wish to 
that purpose should reach the Emperor Alexander. 
To soften to the soldiers the failure of this embas- 
sy, every means were resorted to that might in- 
spire them with an idea that Koutoilsoff w as acting 
beyond his credentials ; and that Alexander, when 
informed of his arrogance to his old ally, (who, 
though now his enemy, was yet the Great Napole- 
on !) would punish his prestimption by immediately 
sending peremptory orders that the French propo^ 
sals should be discussed, and, probably, accepted. 
jN^othing was omitted to be said, which could chfer- 
ish this allusion in the minds of the miserable in- 
mates of the camp and of the town. The madness 

20 



> 



154 

of desperation was to be averted at any rate ; and. 
where truth would have unveiled to the eyes of the 
arnij, the gulph on which they stood, falsehood 
was called upon to spread over the wide destruction 
her betraying mists. Buonaparte invented, and 
caused to be circulated, the most agreeable reports, 
from day to day, throughout the city and the lines. 
Sometimes it was rumoured that Riga had been 
taken by assault ; llien that Macdonald had made 
his triumphant eritry into St. Petersburgb. Anoth- 
er informant spoke of a considerable convoy that 
was known to be on its way from ihe French re- 
sources, and was bringing winter clothing and other 
necessaries for the army ; and that it was so large, 
and so Avell protected, as to cover the road from 
Wilna to Sinolenzk. Besides these " flattering unc- 
tions" with which he sought to medicine the venom 
which had seized on his impatient and perishing 
troops, he gave out that Marshal Yictor w^as ad- 
vancing with strong reinforcements ; and to prove 
that the good star of Napoleon was still in the as- 
cendant, the Russian army was enduring still great- 
er privations than the French ! It was dismember- 
ed by universal discontents ! and the commanding 
ofHcers divided by intrigue and faction, were calling 
aloud for Peace on any terms. 

With these wild subterfuges did the invader of 
Russia seek to appease the murmurs of his disap- 
pointed followers. Many died of want, before the 
falsehood of his several informations could be prov- 
ed, by the non-appearance of the succours he 
promised. They, whose hardier constitutio^ns yet 
contended with all the horrors of famine, and some- 
limes of disease, gave their credence a little long- 
er to the tales which kept them from despair. En- 
couraged by the success of these artifices, he turn- 
ed his attention towards conciliating the poor rem- 
nant of the inhabitants v^^hich remained alive in 
Moscow ; and from them, he extended his subtilties 
(o the people of the villages that surrounded the 



155 

capital. He issiied proclamations, in which he set 
forward the briiiiilness of his own virtues as a hero 
and a sovereign, and invited the dispersed natives 
to return to their homes, and enjoy, in fraternity 
with the Great Nation, the freedom and happiness, 
of his protection. Cou3d a feeling of the ridicu- 
lous be united with a sense of outrage, the Russian 
people must have laughed at the absurdity of such 
an address from the ravager of their country. The 
houseless fugitives from Smolenzk, and the smok- 
ing ashes which tracked their destroyer's march, 
bore too strong evidences of the sort of protection 
and fraternal love intended by the Great Nation 
and its Ruler, for the people to listen otherwise 
than with contempt as well as indignation to such 
an attempt upon their understandings. In cases of 
extremity, they might become the victims of his 
cruelties ; but they v/ere not to be seduced by his 
promises. Napoleon at last was forced to see that 
the Russian nation was neither to be subdued nor 
deceived. The most dreadful calamities could not 
bow their spirit, nor the most magnificent tempta- 
tions warp it. The people whom at a distance he 
bad stigmatized with the names of slaves and barba- 
rians, he was compelled to know as a race too no- 
ble to betray themselves, or those who confided in 
their virtue. 

While Buonaparte was thus occupying himself, 
to compass by the art of policy, what he could not 
accomplish by that of war, the Russian Generals, 
at the head of their respective columns, relaxed 
not in their exertions to accumulate the distresses 
of the enemy. 



DocHTOROFF, who was posted in observation on 
the Mojaisk road, sent in hourly information to the 
Commander-in-chief, of the various and successful 
operations of annoyance made by the Emperor's 



156 

troops against the French. On the night of the 
22d he assembled his own detachment at the village 
of Scharapovo, and thence dispersed his parties, 
with orders to take or destroy every succour they 
might find approaching Moscow. The dragoons 
and Cossacs under his command were so constantly 
on the alert night and day, as, from the 22d of 
September, to the 4th of October, to seize upwards 
of fifty-six carts and carriages, charged with sup- 
plies from the French in Smolenzk to their breth- 
ren in the capital. Besides this spoil, these vigilant 
troops took, at different times, two thousand pris- 
oners, (including twenty-six officers, and an aide- 
de-camp of Marshal Ney's,) Avhich had formed the 
escorts of the supplies. 

Baron Korff's detachment did not halt behind 
that of Dochtoroff, in active service. It took ma- 
ny prisoners, intercepted the couriers and corres- 
pondence of the enemy, and rescued too large 
packages of church plate which Napoleon was 
sending from the sacred treasures of Moscow. 

Miloradovitch, with his brave corps, watched 
the movements of Murat's advanced guard in the 
vicinity of Ponskoy, on the banks of the Netra. 
This small river flows into the Moscva at the vil- 
lage of Kosroguina, near the road leading to Yos- 
creshinskoy. 

Baron Vinzingorode was equally well placed ; 
and his troops having been reinforced by three 
thousand militia from Yarraslaff, he was enabled 
to strengthen his advance ; the right of which oc- 
cupied Tchernigrease on the St. Petersburgh road ; 
and the left held a good position near the town of 
Volokolamsk. He had also a formidable party on 
the Voscreshinskoy road, to connect his wings. 
He had previously stationed Cossacs on the Dimit- 
roff and Yarraslaff roads to observe the enemy, 
who had not been slow in dispatching strong de- 
tachments to oppose these movements. Every day 
produced skirmishes, in which the Russians not on- 



157 

ly took prisoners, but received hundreds of deser- 
ters from the French lines. The distresses of the 
French camp became so unbearable, that Germans, 
and whole regiments of Spaniards and Portuguese, 
whom the despot had forced into his service, fled at 
once from vassalage and famine, to the Russian 
protection. 

Every hour more and more impaired the vain 
hope of Napoleon of receiving a conciliatory ap- 
plication from the court of St. Petersburgh. Full 
time had elapsed for such an order to have arrived 
and yet no messenger was seen from the Russian 
camp. The soldiery became violent, despairing. 
Disease was now augmenting the pangs of hunger ; 
and they called aloud that they were deceived, 
that they were betrayed to the most cruel of deaths. 
To quiet the increasing tunmlt, their ruler founft 
it necessary, so far to humble his pride, as to send 
Count Lauriston again to the Russian head-quar-^ 
ters. His offers for a renewal of friendship ber 
tween the two empires were the same as before, 
and the same answer was returned that he had rer 
ceived on his former visit. Aware of what would 
be the rage of his master when he should again 
carry back such a reply, the Count requested 
Prince KoutousoiT, " since he refused himself to 
open an amicable correspondence with the Empe- 
ror Napoleon, to forward a letter from that Mon- 
arch to his Imperial Majesty Alexander." " I 
wdll do that, "replied the Prince, " provided the 
word peace on the terms now offered is not ex- 
pressed in that letter. I would not be a party in 
such an insult to my sovereign, as to have a hand 
in forwarding to him, what he would instantly or- 
der to be destroyed in his presence. You already 
know on what terms, and on them alone, will of- 
fers of peace be listened to. His Imperial Majesty, 
we know, will keep as firm to his resolves, as we 
shall stand steadfast in ours, to support the inde- 
pendence of the empire," 



158 

Having said this, his Highness bade a polite 
farewell to Lauriston, and begged him not to re- 
peat visits which must be unavailing. 

The return of his messenger with this reply, in- 
censed Buonaparte to the most vehement expres- 
sions of indignation. He found himself treated 
with contempt as well as opposition, and had it not 
been that the critical situation of his army made 
the strictest caution necessary, it is probable the 
resentment with which he was filled, might have 
precipitated him to make some strong effort of re- 
venge. But he too plainly saw in the persevering 
enmity of his adversaries, the situation, to which he 
was reduced. He perceived that if, by some polit- 
ical finesse, or military manoeuvre, he did not ex- 
tricate his army from the dreadful dilemma into 
which he had unwarily led it, he must forever aban- 
don his designs on Russia, destroy the basis of his 
empire in France, and blast his reputation through- 
out Europe. No longer dazzled by the continued 
blaze of his victories, the kingdoms he had delu- 
ded to his sceptre would not only see the baseness 
of their vassalage, but how to recover their liberty ; 
and he would have the mortifying conviction that 
the talisman of his good fortune had been broken 
by the firm virtue of the very people whom he had 
taught these subject nations to contemn as ignorant 
savages and hereditary slaves. 

After Aveighing both ways of escape, negotiation 
still seemed the most feasible ; for the wants of his 
troops, the spirit of desertion which prevailed 
amongst those who were foreigners, and the in- 
subordination which disorganized even the French ; 
made a military attempt at this moment a rashness 
not to be dared. Repugnant, therefore, as he was 
to again appear, in the person of his ambassador, 
at the levee of the Russian Commander-in-chief, he 
wished to persuade himself that Koutousoff might 
be induced to treat, were the evacuation of Moscow 
proposed as a preliminary measure. Grasping at 



159 

this new expectation, he again called Laiiriston in- 
to his presence, and. ordered him to repair once 
more to the Russian *pamp with this proffer, " which 
should contain his final offer of peace." 

In this offer, he desired it to be proposed that an 
armistice must first be agreed on, and then Moscow 
should be immediately restored to the Russian Em- 
peror. This done, the French army, with its artil- 
lery and baggage, would retire upon Wiazma ; 
and there station themselves in a place, which they 
hoped would become the theatre of a future friend- 
ly pacific conference. 

No explanation need be offered of the ultimate 
views of Buonaparte, in this proposal. Nor is it 
requisite to make comments on what would have 
been the result to the Russians, had they been 
weak enough to be caught by the bait of the re- 
possession of the capital. It must in common prob- 
ability, have proved the destruction of their empire* 
Alexander wouk! have been an Emperor in fee of 
the Great Napoleon ; and the Russian people, a na- 
tion of slaves, plunged into a gulpb of intellectu- 
al darkness, more barren of lig^ht than that of the 
remotest hyperborean hordes. 

Delusive as might be the hopes of their Destroy- 
er, the Russian people remained firm to the inde- 
pendence of their empire ; and to that sun of men- 
tal light and personal liberty, which rose with Alex- 
ander's natal star upon their country. Their an- 
swer spoke from the lips of Koutousoff, and it was 
what might be naturally anticipated from an upright 
and sincere people. Koutousoff was not slow in 
comprehending the views of Buonaparte in adding 
to these repeated applications for a negotiation of 
peace, a proposal for an armistice. 

" No," replied the Russian Commander, " it is 
not the time for us to grant either the one or the 
other, when the campaign is just opening on our 
part." 

Napoleon received this final blow to his diplomat- 



160 

ic machinations with ansvyerable emotions. He 
was compelled to see 'that no art could prevail on 
his present enemies to bccom^f the sport of his des- 
tiny ; and fearing that, on the contrary, he might 
at least, be the victim of their's,; his apprehensions 
became troubled with ten thousand foreboding ima- 
ges. He saw the gigantic sceptre of his ambition 
falling before the genius of Russia, and lying buri- 
ed for ever under the pale shroud of a northern 
winler ; he beheld the sun of his glory darkened 
by storms ; and its rays totally extinguished by the 
overwhelming ruin of his army, perishing amid the 
desarts they were invited to conquer ! 

From the apparitions of such direful " coming 
events," it is not surprising that the French Dicta- 
tor should be anxious to fly. By removing himself 
from the most prominent scene of his people's mis- 
eries, he hoped to escape some of the tormenting 
retrospections to which they pointed ; and leaving 
Moscow under some trifling excuse, he took up his 
residence at the palace of Petrofsky : the place 
where a few weeks before, he had in vain awaited 
the visit of the municipality of the city. In this 
seat of his double mortification, truth so far shone 
into his mind, as to convince him that all his proud 
expectations of the Russian empire, must be laid 
down on this spot. But before he relinquished the 
idea of planting his universal throne upon that of 
the Tzars, he determined that their ancient me- 
tropolis should forever remember that the foot of 
Napoleon was once upon its threshold. The de- 
struction which the loyalty and despair of the Mus- 
covites had begun, he was resolved should be so 
finished by the French soldiers, that nothing should 
remain of the golden palaces and shining minarets 
of Moscow, but the desolated plain on which they 
had stood. 

His principle has ever been, " Where I cannot 
reign, I will destroy,'* and issuing his orders in 
conformity to this principle, he found that the hab- 



161 

its of his followers' minds only too ready to execute 
liis commands. Whije they aroused themselves 
with mutual and horrid emulations to pursue the 
work of destruction, their officers found some dif- 
ficulty in keeping the devastation within such limits 
as to allow of any vei^tige whatever being preserv- 
ed, to carry to ParJs as a trophy of Moscow ! 
Whilst rapine, murder, and flames, re-aAvakened 
their uproar throughout this devoted city, all that 
could be rescued for the purpose of a Parisian tri- 
itmphy were the gilded cross and crescent which Na- 
poleon had ordered to be stripped from the high 
tower of the Great church of St. .Tohn ; and the 
old standards from the Kremlin, which had been 
taken from the Turks by the Russians during their 
several v/ars with that state. 

These spoils were carefully packed up to be sent 
to Paris ; and to enrich the warlike deposit, they 
were accompanied by whatever treasure had fallen 
to the Conqueror s share ! 

Owing to the confusion of the inhabitants, when 
quitting their habitations so abruptly on the ap- 
proach of the French, some had left their plate 
behind them. Indeed a few of the churches had 
been left in possession of their sacred, vessels. 
And, as may be supposed, it was not long after the 
entrance of these general robbers that the whole 
of these riches, private and public, became the 
property of the commanders of the different divis- 
ions. They seized all that could be found, and 
melting the gold and silver into bars, (to make them 
the easier for carriage,) they loaded their baggage, 
and remained ready for a moment's mandate. These 
commanders were too well read in the progress of 
conquest, and in the consequence of disaster, not 
to have long foreseen their abandonment of Mos- 
cow ; and, therefore, without surprise they atten- 
ded Napoleon's summons to the Petrofsky palace, 
and heard his final decision respecting the ancient 
capital of the Tzars. He commanded them to make 

21 



162 

it knovvn to his army that, in spite of all his exer- 
tions, lie found the barbarous system of warfare 
used by the Russians, had so destroyed Moscow^ 
that his greatest efforts to Restore it, either as a 
military position, or a place of political influence, 
had proved abortive. It was therefore become a 
station af equal unimportance* to the enemy as to 
himself ; and was totally unwortJhy the risque of 
passing a winter within its ruins. The weather, to 
be sure, was then (the beginning of October) warm- 
er than, at that season of the year, they had it in 
France. But as the climates were altogether dif- 
ferent, with the succeeding mowth they must expect 
cold. Out these considerations, it was his intention 
Immediately to resign the boasted capital of the 
Tzars to the solitude that must be tlie consequence 
of its desolation ; and to lead his brave troops with- 
out loss of time into a part of the country more 
friendly to his views, and where an overflowing 
plenty would be the reward of all their labours. 
In these abundant provinces he would establish his 
winter -quarters, and if, during that period, the 
Russian empire should persist in refusing his offer- 
ed peace, the spring should see him spread his le- 
gions o>7er the whole country ; and, creating a 
Duke of Smolenzk and of St. Petersburgh, he 
would efface the name of Russia from the list of 
European nations ! 

The cry of havoc ! spread from the palace of 
Petrofsky*^ to the whole of the French army. It 
was now' indeed that the demon of destruction was 
let loose to satiate itself with human misery. The 
soldiers of the camp and of the town rushed from 
all quarters to pursue their devastating task. No- 
thing was to be spared ; neither chiuch, nor pal- 
ace, nor private dwelling, was to be left unsacked, 
imdestroyed. The Foundling-hospital alone, (ha- 
ving been made the asylum of the French sick, and 
which now contained several thousand of the woun- 
ded soldiers,) was to be exempt from the torch of 
annihilation. 



163 

No objects presented themselves but multitudes 
of robbers scouring the streets, bursting open the 
doors and cellars of the houses which yet held an 
inhabitant ; whether native or foreigner it was all 
the same to their rapacity ; they penetrated to the 
remotest apartments, and dragging forth the wi*etch- 
ed owners from their Ijiding-places, stripped them 
naked that their clothes might add to the heaps of 
their plunder. Hundreds of fainting women, who 
had escaped the last horrors of the first outrages 
on Moscow, were violated and murdered ; and their 
bodies thrown out of their houses into the open 
streets, to lay amidst the piles of putrifying carca- 
ses of horses and men which starvation had depri^ 
ved of existence. 

The blood-hounds of death but too well obeyed 
in every quarter, the voice of their inhuman leader. 
The air was filled with shrieks, and groans, and im- 
precations. It was a very Pandemonium ; a con- 
gregation of devils let loose to riot in human mise- 
ries, in human flesh ; for scenes of blood and cru- 
elties were transacted there which puts to nought 
the ravening of wild beasts, the horrid destruction 
of cannibals in the midst of their most savage or- 
gies. 

How then must we start with horror when we un- 
derstand that all these refinemerts on barbarism 
were the effects of regular orders issued from Na- 
poleon to his Generals, and from them to the indi- 
viduals of the army ! Thus sanctioned, the sol- 
diery no longer considered their rapine an unlaw- 
ful act, but pursued their enormities with the confi- 
dence of men fulfilling a duty. 

One day it was the senior guards who pillaged ; 
on the next it was the junior. The day following 
that, the division of Marshal Davoust took its turn. 
And so on, in regular course, till all the different 
corps encamped around the city had their share in 
finishing the work of ruin. 

For eight days, without intermission, did this 



164 

law of force continue. It is not possible for any 
imagination tiiat has not seen the acts then commit- 
ted, to form any conception of their variety of 
wickedness ; of their demoniac Avantonness of cru- 
elty. It would be doing ?i violence to the human 
heart, even to recoimt them, or to read their re- 
gister. Suffice it to say, that in the round of these 
eight days, the fierceness of the rage of the French 
legions at their defeats and miseries since they en- 
tered Russia, all fell upon the head of this devoted 
city. The soldiers who had crossed the Wiemen 
gaily caprisoned, and high in the hope of new glo- 
ries ; who had anticipated the sight of kneeling 
provinces at the feet of their leader, and the abun^ 
dance of their produce to enrich themselves ; 
when, instead of the realization of these expecta- 
tions, they met with opposition, overthrow, and want ; 
what could exceed the depth of their disappoint- 
ment, the fury with which tliey gave it utterance ? 
First, in threatening fury against their leader, and 
now, in sanguinary atrocities against a poor rem- 
nant of the brave people whom they could not 
subdue ! 

Thousands of these French ruffians, almost in a 
state of complete nakedness, without shoes, or any 
clothing on their limbs, and scarce a covering but 
a few filthy rags flying from their bodies, were met 
in every direction ; more like the banditti their 
deeds imitated, than the soldier, whose noble pro- 
fession their deed stigmatized with disgrace. In 
this wretched plight were all the followers of Buo- 
naparte. His own personal guards were not better 
clad ; haying nothing in their appearance that spoke 
their military order but the arms they carried. 

Impelled hj a sense of the hatred they deserved, 
and the contempt that had lately been shown to 
their demands for peace, they sought food at the 
point of the bayonet, and clothed themselves with 
the raiment of the murdered. The officers them- 
selves being not much better furnished with apparel, 



1 



165 

found no shame in displaying an equal baseness of 
mind ; and casting humanity off at once, followed 
their rapacious comrades through all Iheir roiuids 
of violence and robbery. 

Some few indeed, whose i-ank in the army re- 
quired some show of the gentleman at least, satis- 
fied themselves with sacking the houses in which 
they had at first taken up their quarters. Here, 
quietly, and at home, they stripped the rooms of 
all that they contained, leaving only bare walls, for 
the fire to consume, whenever Buonaparte should 
give the word for the final conflagration^ 

The Generals, who represented their chief in 
their actions, as accurately as those of the Macedo- 
nian invader did their August Lord ; they knew 
how to colour their avidity with the gloze of legal 
devices. Under the pretext of a requisition for 
the public service, they seized every article which 
suited their purpose ; and Avhen they had thus emp- 
tied one house, they moved on to another, with 
the same demands, and the same principle of un- 
blushing robbery. 

While Napoleon stood as Nero did, watching the 
devastation of one of the finest cities in the world, 
the spirit of man that is in his bosom could not but 
whisper to him what would be the opinion of the 
world, when the unexampled barbarity of the sack- 
ing of Moscow should become generally known. 
Even with the effects of his own orders blazing be- 
fore his eyes, he tried to sink his destruction of the 
city, in the patriotic devotion which the Russians 
had made of its magazines, v/hen they found it ne- 
cessary to abandon it. 

It was that devotion which had deprived Napole- 
on of his needful resources. No ammunition, no 
bread for his men, no forage for his horses, present- 
ed themselves. He found silver and gold, it is 
true, but no where the aliments of life. Not only 
the Magazines of the city had been demolished, 
but when the magnanimous 31astapchin left it, io his 



166 

way to join the concentrated army of the empire, 
he stopped before the walls of his summer-palace, 
(which stood in the adjacent country,) and set fire 
to its stores and its harvests with his own hand. 
This disinterested example was followed by hun- 
dreds ; and the fields of JMoscovy every where 
showed the smoking ashes of the yellow treasures 
of the year. Buonaparte had formed no idea of^ 
such a spirit of loyalty ; be could not, therefore,^ 
prepare against it ; and, though he saw himself 
seated in the ancient throne of the empire's wealth 
and power, he found his people were perishing in 
famine, and his cavalry hourly wasting away. 

Where then was the plentiful winter quarters 
the French leader had promised to his followers ? 
He found only a few dying invalids, or a band of 
desperate patriots, with women devoted to their 
fates, determined to abide by their native city to 
the last ! It was impoverished ; it was become a 
circle of barren houses and walls ! 

Napoleon for a lime dissembled the excess of his 
disappointment, and the extreme of his danger, on 
the discovery of this desert, where a Mahometan 
paradise was expected. At last, rendered despe- 
rate by the miseries and rebellious state of his ar- 
my, he formed the resolution to avenge them and 
himself upon the falling towers of Moscow. He 
had found it like Palmyra in the wilderness, noble 
in ruins : — he was determined to leave it a shapeless 
heap of stones. 



8ucH was the state of Moscow when Napoleon 
and his arm}' entered it ; sucli was the miserable 
situation of his soldiers ; and yet that the world 
may never want a criterion by which to judge of 
the truth of his representations, we have these bul- 
letins of the JiourisMng condition of the French le- 
gions of the overflowing ahimdance which met them 
at the city's gates. 



167 

We have it thus, in the twentieth bulletin, which 
Buonaparte dates from Moscow, Septembei- 17th. 

" The resoiu'ces the army have found here are 
iTiuch diminished, by the attempts of the enemy 
to destroy them entirely ; but our fortune has been 
superior to their contrivance ; and we have gather- 
^ed, and still continue to collect, a vast quantity of 
necessaries. 

" The cellars have not been touched by the fire ; 
and, during the last twenty-four hours, the inhabi- 
tants have saved many valuable articles. Indeed, 
on the first discovery of the nobility's design to 
burn the city, these honest people endeavoured to 
arrest the progress of the flames ; but in vain, for 
the governor had taken the horrible precaution to 
carry off or destroy all the fire engines. 

" The army is recovering from its fatigues. Yie 
have bread in abundance, and potatoes, cabbages, 
and other vegetables ; also meat, salted provisions, 
wine, brandy, sugar, coffee ; in a word, provisions 
of every sort. 

" The temperature is yet that of autumn. The 
soldiers continually find numbers of pelisses and 
furs for winter. Moscow was the depot for these 
commodities." 

The next bulletin supplies any deficiency hi? 
troops might have in arms, cannon or gunpowder ; 
and shot and shells of every description, they found 
by hundreds, thousands and tens of thousands. 

The twenty-second bulletin adds floods of wine 
and brandy, and whole magazines of furs, sugars, 
clothes, &c. &c. &c. 

These valuable articles continued to grow^in plen- 
tiful crops out of the earth, so late as the 27th of 
September ; and, during the extraordinary harvest, 
the French troops did not fail to revive in due 
vigour from all their wants and toils. But, sur- 
prising to relate, on the 14th of October (only seven- 



16B 

teen days after this great repletion !) we find all 
these abundant resources consumed and devoured ! 
the ammunition expended ! the provisions eaten 
up ! the clothes and furs worn out ! and the lately 
well-provided army reduced at once, as if by a 
magician's wand, to famine and nakedness ! 

The whole fabric had been a creature of Buona- 
parte's own imagination ; and the wonder ceases, 
that the vision should dissolve, and leave not a 
wreck behind ! It did dissolve, but the wreck was 
vast and many ; the wreck, not of the riches he 
found, but of the ruin he rendered yet more de- 
solate. 

After having wasted nearly five weeks in vain 
boasts and as vain hopes, the French leader deemed 
it prudent to leave a place which only presented 
to his view the possible grave of his ambition, and 
a perpetual memento of the patrotic firmness of the 
Russian people. 

The sacking and burning of the city of Moscow, 
by this man of the earth, (to whom so many infatu- 
ated spirits, even at Ihis hour, are ready to buUd 
altars,) was immediately followed by an attempt 
from the same godlike hand, to destroy the Krem- 
lin. While he flattered himself with the probabili- 
ty of maintaining his possession of the Capital, he 
bad employed some of his men in materially 
strengthening the military part of this great fortress. 
He now ordered it to be undermined, and filled 
with combustibles, and gunpowder, ready for the 
fusee. We cannot better express the comprehen- 
sive plan of this destruction, nor describe the ef- 
fects of the desolation he had already wrought, 
than by transcribing a few paragraphs from his own 
leport on the subject. 

" When Moscow ceased to exist I" saiLh the Im- 
perial amanuensis, " the Emperor had determined 
to abandon the mass of ruins, and to occupy the 
Kremlin with three thousand men. But, after a 
hard labour of fifteen days, to improve its military 



169 

works, it was thought not to have sufficient strength 
to maintain itself with such a garrison, and without 
outward aid, for even the short term of twenty or 
thirty days, against "^any attacking force. Besides, 
the detachment would have weakened and embar- 
rassed the army, without promising any adequate 
advantage. If we attempt to protect Moscow 
against the beggars and plunderers, who are watch- 
ing to re-enter what were once its walls, it must be 
by a garrison of twenty thousand men. The idea 
is vain, for Moscow is now no more. What was 
the city, is become a depopulated region of nox- 
ious matter, where pestilence and death brood con- 
tinually over the reeking mass. 

" A desperate multitude ; two hundred thousand 
houseless wretches, who all day wander in the 
neighbouring woods perishing with hunger, appear 
in troops at night amid the rubbish of the suburbs, 
seeking in their heaps, for some means to sustain 
famishing nature, some solitary vegetable, in the 
exhausted gardens* 

"When we view the desert, and its miserable in- 
habitants, it appears useless to compromise any of 
our own advantages for such an object. The site 
of j.Ioscow, is no longer a place of military im- 
portance, or a point of political interest. 
^ " All tlie adjoining buildings having been emp- 
tied with great care ; and the Kremlin being judi- 
ciously mined, at two o'clock in the morning of 
the 23d of October, it was blown into the ai?by 
the Duke of Trevise (Mortier.) The arsenal, the 
barracks,^ the magazines, all have been destroyed. 
This ancient citadel, from whence is dated the 
ioundation of the Empire ! This first palace of 
the Tzars, exists no more ! 

" Of four thousand superb houses of stone, which 
Moscow contained, there now only remains two 
hundred. It was reported that one fourth of the 
whole number had escaped ; but in this false calcu- 
lation, eight hundred churches were taken into the 

22 



llfO 

accouDf, and even they were almost all heavily 
damaged. With palaces, churches, and public struc- 
tures, fell also whole streets of less considerable 
buildings ; and, out of eight thousand houses of 
wood, only five hundred remained undestroyed. 

" When this great retribution was made, it was 
suggested to the Emperor^ still further to chastise 
the Russians, by burning the two Ihousand villa- 
ges which surrounds Moscow, and all the castles 
and country houses in its vicinity. Four columns, 
of two thousand men each, were proposed to be 
sent out in every direction, to a distance of twenty 
leagues, to set lire to, and devastate every object 
in their path. Such a general desolation^ observed 
the advisers of this scheme, will teach the Mussians 
to make war according to its received rules ; and not 
like Tartars. If they hum one village or houses we 
will punish the act hy burning a hundred. 

" The Emperor refused to adopt this system, which 
he said would only aggravate the misfortunes of 
the people ; and out of the nine hundred proprie- 
tors of the castles proposed to be destroyed, there 
were perhaps, but one hundred who were sincerely 
the partizans of Rastapchin, the Marat of Russia ! 
The other eight hundred, continued the great Na- 
poleon, are brave men, already too much the vic- 
tims of despotic power. We Avill not then, for the 
sake of vengeance against a hundred guilty wretch- 
es, uivolve eight thousand and nine hundred inno- 
cent persons in utter ruin. And should we consent 
to the destruction of the villages, would there not 
be two thousand helpless peasants, left without re- 
fjource or shelter ? 

" In conformity with these gracious sentiments, 
the Emperor was contented with the annihilation of 
the citadel, and other military buildings ; and while 
the work of destruction proceeded, he forbade that 
the individuals should be harmed who had already 
suffered so severely from the consequences of war." 

HoAv gladly would humanity trace any affinity 



171 

with its owii nature, in the character of even the 
most cruel tyrant. It is greatful to the heart that 
wishes the good of every fellow creature, to see 
the germs of virtue in some transaction of the be- 
ing whose ordinary actions are demonstrative of his 
delight in crime. So would we hail any appearance 
of mercy in the warfare of a man who, for so many 
years, has held Europe steeped in blood. But the 
licensed scene of ravage so lately exhibited in the 
capital of the Tzars, unequivocally proves that 
Napoleon spared the distant villages and castles 
around Moscow, because they were out of the 
Teach of his hands. Those which were in its im- 
mediate vicinity experienced all the horrors of fire 
and sword. 

Every preparation having been rapidly made to 
put the army in motion, Buonaparte in person, 
with a tone of hilarity, informed his troops, that he 
was conducting them to winter quarters. " Je veux 
vous conduire dans vos quartiers-d'hiver, (said he) 
si je rencontre les Russes dans mon chemin, je les 
battrai. Si non, tanl mieux pour eux." 

Could defeat and wretchedness have laughed io 
derision at the boasting which had ruined them, the 
men who heard this gasconade must have been so 
moved. But their leader knew them well. They 
forgot their own misery while inflicting distress on 
others ; and in the rage of plunder, believed them- 
selves enjoying the trimiiph of victory. 



While these things were transacting in Moscow 
and its adjoining camp, the detachments of General 
Baron Vinzingorode continued to keep on the alert ; 
and daily brought to his head-quarters at Klim, a 
considerable number of prisoners. Colonel Ben- 
kendorf, one of his Imperial Majesty's aide-de- 
camps, at the head of his little division, (which 
was stationed between the city of Volokolamsk 



172 

and Mojaisk) ably fulfilled his duty of observation ; 
and sent in, amongst other prisoners, one French 
courier with dispatches.* 

The object of the French, whenever they were 
seen abroad, seemed solely to procure provisions 
and forage. But in almost every attempt they 
were disappointed, and so pressed by the Russian 
light troops and the peasantry, that their comman- 
ders found it necessary to cover every marauding- 
party with a strong escort. 

On the 5th of October, the enemy dispatched 
from Moscow a detachment of more than usual 
strength : it was composed of six thousand infant- 
ry, with several regiments of cavalry, and six pie- 
ces of artillery, under the command of General 
Delson. It took the road to DimitrofF. The Cos- 
sacs, who were in observation in that direction, en- 
countered the detachment, but were soon obliged 
to fall back ; leaving the road to Yarraslaff quite 
open to the depredators. By this partial advan- 
tage on their side, the communication between that 
city and Baron Yinzingorode was cut off. In the 
case of this successful body being followed up by 
one of increased force, which might be intended 
to get round his left, and approach the government 
of Twer, Vinzingorode took the precaution to in- 
form the governor of that province of his appre- 
hensions ; and to suggest similar vigilance on its 
part with that of his own little army. He strength- 
ened his reconnoitering parties with his best troops, 
and so disposed them, that he did not allow the 
enemy's flank a moment's repose. 

Menacing as were now the columns which issued 
from the French camp at Moscow, no idea v»'as en- 
tertained of their object, but that of plundering in 
greater security ; and the Cossac picquets corrobo- 
rated this impression, by reporting the continued 

* At the end of the volume.. Letters from Buonaparte, in these dis^ 
patches, may be found. 



173 

sacking and burning of the villages in the neigh- 
bourhood of their excursions. 

On the 10th of October the enemy pushed on, 
and possessed himself of the city of Dimitroff; lay- 
ing waste the country on all sides ; and then turned 
his face towards Klim. On the same day, another 
detachment left Moscow% taking the St. Peters- 
burgh road, and passing through Tschernigrease, 
halted about six wersts from that place. 

These movements seemed for something more 
than forage, and to threaten the force of General 
Vinzingorode. He was too weak in the present 
dismembered state of his division, to oppose an at- 
tack ; and, therefore to prepare for it, should one 
be intended, he recalled the troops under Colonel 
Benkendorf, and any which his detachments on the 
various roads could spare. With this firm little 
band, he remained in front of the tov/n of Klim to 
arrest the advance of the enemy in that direction. 

Notwithstanding these hostile movements, no af- 
fair of any consequence immediately took place. 
Prisoners continued to be taken in slight skirmish- 
es, and numbers of Westphalian Saxons, and oth- 
er German soldiers, fled daily from their oppressor 
towards the Russian lines. The report of these 
men, apprised the Baron of the real intentions of 
Napoleon. They informed him that the greater 
part of the French army had broken up its camp 
at Moscow, and under its ambitious leader had ta- 
ken its course towards the rich provinces of the 
empire, where the Russian grand army then stood. 
This intelligence explained the nature of the de- 
monstrations Vinzingorode had collected his troops 
to oppose. The advanced movements in his direc- 
tion, were only to conceal that of their main body 
to the contrary point. 

The Cossacs in the neighbourhood of DimitrolT, 
gave information at head-quarters that the French 
General Dalzel, after ravnoing ihe city, and mal- 
treating the inhabitants, with every species of c.ru» 



174 

elty, had abandoned the place, and followed by two 
hundred carts laden with plunder, was retiring to- 
wards Moscow. 

Vinzingorode no sooner received this intelligence 
than he put himself at the head of three regiments 
of cavalry, which were composed of Hussars, Kal- 
mucs, and Cossacs, and reached the despoiled city 
on the evening of the 13th, just as the last ranks of 
the enemy's rear guard were quitting it. Without 
losing a moment he caused them to be pursued and 
attacked. His commands were obeyed with vigour ; 
and the success that attended the Russian arms drove 
the foe before them for several wersts, until dark- 
ness, and the shelter of the woods, stopped the 
operations of cavalry. Many prisoners were made ; 
and one hundred carts re-taken, filled with the ef- 
fects of the plundered citizens. They were sent 
back to Dimitroff, and restored next day to the in- 
habitants. Meanwhile the Russian troops followed 
the retrograde career of the French division, which 
did not halt till it re-entered Moscow. 

The booty which these brigands had taken, with 
the exception of a very few carts, all fell into the 
hands of the Cossacs. 

A strong party, which had been detached from 
General Dalzel's division, held a good station at 
Vinagradouya, about seventeen wersts from Mos- 
cow ; and the body of French which had been dis- 
patched to Tschernigrease, also maintained its po- 
sition in that place. 

Baron Vinzingorode, while he planted his little 
army before these posts of the enemy, informed 
himself so thoroughly of the force left in Moscow, 
that he soon understood how weakly it was appoint- 
ed, and that the forces in advance before him, and 
who reached to the Mojaisk road, were a part of the 
fourth division under the command of General 
Mortier. 

On the 19th of October, the enemy were observ- 
ed to have fallen back nearer to Moscow. Upon 



175 

this report Vinzingorode gave orders to Major-Gen- 
eral Iloviaskoy, to move forward on the great road, 
and, with liis light cavalry reconnoiter, and discov- 
er at what distances they had taken up their new 
stations. AVhilst Iloviaskoy advanced, the Baron 
meant to follow with the remainder of his division, 
to be in readiness to support the Major-Gene ral, 
should circumstances make it necessary. 

A few troops of the light cavalry pushed on 
vverst after werst, without meeting any obstacle, to 
the very barrier of Moscow, which terminates the 
St. Pete rsburgh road. They passed it, and saw on- 
ly a few straggling soldiers in the subiubs. En- 
couraged by this appearance of an almost complete 
evacuation of the place, they proceeded a little far- 
ther, but only a little, for a formidable column of 
French infantry presented itself. The fierceness 
of its charge soon made the Russian squadrons seek 
a hasty retreat. They had hardly regained the out- 
side of the town, when a body of about fifteen 
hundred of the enemy's cavalry issued from the 
gate. The Russian detachment must now have 
been lost, had not General Iloviaskoy happily ar- 
rived at the moment, with his whole force. Though 
powerful in resolution, it was inferior in numeric- 
al strength to the French ; however, its brave Gen- 
eral did not stand on nice calculations ; and, deter- 
mined that his adversaries should not long drive his 
gallant little advanced party before them, he at- 
tacked their foremost ranks Avith a vigour that made 
them stand. Many noble charges were made, and 
thoxigh sustained with considerable valour by the 
French, their glorious effect was to clear the ground 
of the enemy, who fled in disorder, taking refuge 
in the city, and leaving fifty men dead on the field, 
with sixty-two, besides three officers, prisoners in 
the hands of the victors. 

This fortunate affair enabled Baron Vinzingorode 
to draw the circle of his positions closer to the 
town, and to establish his out-posts within two 
wersts of it. 



176 

On the other side of Moscow, an equal success 
attended the Cossacs, who, on the road leading to 
DimitrofF had encountered several bodies of the 
enemy, killed many, made others prisoners, and 
drove the remainder to seek their shelter also in 
the desolated city. Having done this service, they 
established their out-posts at a short distance from 
the quarter, within whose gates their enemies had 
fled. 

The vicinity of Zwinigorod was freed from its 
marauders, by the incessant watchfulness and reso- 
lution of the detachment planted as its protection. 
Lieutenant-Colonel Tchernisouloff, who was its 
commander, carried his gallantry so far as to push 
on to the high road between Ghatz and Wiazma. 
The opposition he met in this enterprise was obsti- 
nate and sanguinary, but his determined spirit over- 
came every obstacle, and after a hard contest, he 
took a whole detachment (including its officers) 
prisoners. When he sent the account of his success 
to head-quarters, he reported Ihat the road, on 
which he was pursuing his advantage was covered 
with countless waggons ; some, he said, he was in- 
formed were filled with ammunition, but the most 
were vehicles for the sick and the wounded. The 
latter, he added, must soon be relieved of their 
load, for the number who hourly die, and are thrown 
out in heaps on the road, line the way with horrible 
vestiges of perishing mortality. 

Between the 2d of October and the 16th of the 
same month, the Russian division that protected 
the direction of St. Petersburgh, forwarded to the 
government depot at Twer, nearly a thousand pri- 
seners, officers and men ; and, in taking these proofs 
of their successes, they did not lose more than twen- 
ty Cossacs, forty soldiers of the line, and two of- 
ficers. 

Baron Vinzingorode, having thus nearly encir- 
cled the capital with the forces under his command, 
and finding that the enemy, as well as the victorious 



177 

Russians, was daily drawing from its garrison, re- 
solved to make one essay, at least, to restore the 
city of the Tzars to its ancient empire. To be an 
instrument in such an act v^as indeed an animating 
thought to every soldier that composed his little 
army; and all were eager to follow their intrepid 
General to an achievement so worthy of immortal 
fame. 

On the 22d of October, the determined Yinzin- 
gorode gave orders for the troops under Major- 
General Iloviaskoy to advance ; and those under 
Benkendorf, were to follow with the rest of the 
division. The Baron, whose heroic soul was all in 
arms^ at this m.oment so critical to his sovereio-n 
and to his own reputation, placed himself, with his 
aide-de-camp the brave Captain Narishkin, at the 
head of five hundred Cossacs. They rushed to the 
attack ; they passed the barriers of the city ; and, 
seconded by the troops of Iloviaskoy, they speedily 
overthrew the infantry and scattered squadrons of 
the enemy, and constrained them, after suffering a 
considerable loss, to seek protection under the 
guns of the citadel. 

In order to make it known to the chief of the 
French garrison that any longer resistance on his 
part would only be the saeriiice of every soul un- 
der his command, the white signal of amity was ta- 
ken m the hand of the victorious Vinzingorode, 
Avho, with his aide-de-camp Narishkin (a hero like 
himself, as full of clemency as of courage,) gal-^ 
loped forward, waving the pledge of honour and 
ot mercy. 

But they had not men to deal with who had been 
educated m the school of heroes, iu which the 
Montmorency and the Cond6 had been professors. 
the toe to whom the generous sons of Russia now 
ottered the affiance of reciprocal honour, had learnt 
their creed of military policy from warriors of a 
clitterent stamp ; from a leader, and his myrmidonsy 
who set at nought the vows of man to man, the 

23 



17^ 

laws of religion, the bonds of national esteem, and 
even tbe common respect of honesty to honesty in 
the simplest transactions of life. From a banditti 
of this sort, the gallant Yinziegorode could meet 
with no reception answerable to the magnanimous 
spirit, which brought him from the acclaim of yic- 
tory, to offer, in the midst of their bleeding ranks, 
the palm of mercy to his perishing enemies. ■ The 
emblem of peace M'hieh he held in his hand, wafs 
not regarded. They saw their conqueror in their 
power, and the ungrateful wretches whom his clem- 
ency alone had preserved, rushed in between him 
and his advancing dragoons, and carried both him 
and his brave aide-de-camp prisoners into the 
Kremlin. 

This event happened before Buonaparte thought 
fit to dispatch orders for the final demolition of 
that fortress : and the baseness of this breach of 
truce was so conspicuous, that every one believed 
the measure of French iniquity in Moscow quite 
fi^lled up ; until the moment arrived when the hor- 
rid mandate was given for destroying a structure 
which had stood the storms of ages ; and then eve- 
ry brave heart in the empire was wrung, as if it 
had listened to the death-warrant of a revered pa- 
rent. 

The mines were completed : the walls, the tow- 
ers, the arsenaJ, the palace, and the great church, 
now stood upon a heap of combustibles ; a few 
sparks were only necessary to level to the ground 
this place, which the fathers of the empire had rais- 
ed ; and, even the most barbarous adversaries had 
spared, in reverence to the patriarchal ages of 
Russian heroism I 

The morning of the 23d of October, at an early 
hour, was destined to witness the destruction of 
the Kremlin, and of all the buildings attached to 
its bulwarks. Almost the whole of its French gar- 
rison retired during the night preceding the moment 
intended for springing the train, only leaving a 



179 . 

small delacliment of desperate spirits, who, insti- 
gated by a great reward, had pledged themselves 
not to rejoin the army iinlil they had reduced the 
Kremlin to a heap of ashes. 

At two o'clock in the morning, the first explosion 
took place. The Russian General, who had medi- 
tated an attack, seized on this signal of destruction, 
as that for rushing on its perpetrators ; and before 
another mine could be sprung, the dauntless Ilovi- 
askoy with his brave followers forced the gates, and 
assaulting the wretches with the very fire brands in 
their hands, took them all prisoners- 

Thus were the intentions of Napoleon frustrated j 
the glory of Moscow, which he thought to have ex- 
tinguished in the ruin of the Kremlin, was preser- 
ved ; and the ancient capital of the Empire, re- 
stored to its lawful Sovereign ! Proud was the 
moment to lioviaskoy, when he planted the eagles 
of his country again in the citadel of Moscow. 
On examining the damage done to the Kremlin^ 
from the effects of the mine, he found it compara- 
tively trifling, with the mischief intended. Only a 
small part of the wall, and one of the towers had 
heen thrown down* The citadel, the palace, the 
arsenal, and other public buildings were entire ; 
and will henceforth stand, a monument to future 
ages, not only of the magnificence of Russian Sove- 
reigns, but of the impotent rage, and arrogant false- 
hood of the ambitious tyrant of the French. He 
boasted that all had been completely destroyed ; 
his words are, " the Kremlin exists no more i" 
Had his plan for its destruction been executed in 
its full extent, hundreds of his own sick and wound- 
ed followers must have perished in the various ex^ 
plosions ; for the churches, and other large build- 
ings of this immense fortress, were filled with themo 
With these miserable wrecks of human nature, the 
Russian soldiers found in the Kremlin, forty-two 
pieces of cannon, two hundred and thirty-seven 
ammunition waggon-loads of csirtridges, fifty-foui 



wo 

waggons with pontoons, nine with implements of 
war of all kinds, eleven with flying forges, and 
thirtv-five intended for provisions. That these last 
had been long empty and had no means of being 
replenished was evident in the famished aspects of 
the wretched invalids. Their state of sniFering 
from their wounds, their diseases, and their wants, 
was beyond immagination, horrible. Dreadful as 
was the alternative, had Buonaparte persisted in 
exposing his followers, to the miseries of craving 
nature, at Moscow, the explosion of the Kremlin 
would have been a blessing to all who perished in 
its fires. 

As soon as it was known in the surrounding coun- 
try that Moscow was again in the power of the 
Russians, thousands of its fugitives crowded in 
from all quarters. But how distressing^ was the 
scene ! In vain did they look for their homes : 
scarcely a house was left standing — The streets 
were heaps of rubbish ; and, only, after great la- 
bour to clear a passage to their entrances, could 
the poor creatures find a shelter in the cellars. In- 
to these dismal vaults did the fainting and eager 
multitude throw themselves in crowds, to find 
protection from the inclemency of the approaching 
season. Six or seven wretched families would press 
together into ope narrow chamber, without light and 
without heat, too happy to conceal their nakedness 
from the day, and to still the pangs of hunger with 
some of the food the charity of their brave coun- 
men had prepared for them. Buonaparte, the cause 
of all their miseries, had but too truely represented 
their wretched state. They had been wandering 
many dreadful weeks, in the adjacent v/oods, fam- 
ine and suffering of every kind their constant com- 
panions. 

How many frantic mothers, there cast their chil- 
dren, gasping for life and nourishment, beneath 
the trees and turned away their heads that they 
might not gee them die 1 And novr, when they re- 



181 

iurhed to the ashes of their former dwellings, sad 
indeed was the lamentation which was raised. Some 
wept for their perished infants ; some for the hus- 
bands of their hearts ; some for the several dear 
connexions of liither, son, and brother ; and oth- 
ers mourned their hearths, which no longer existed 
to bear even the remembrance of happiness depart- 
ed for ever. 

General Iloviaskoy, as humane as brave, having 
rescued the remains of Moscow, turned his whole 
attention towards ameliorating the condition of the 
inhabitants. Until the proper steps could be taken 
for the re-establishment in the city of the ancient 
military and civil institutions, he made every per- 
sonal exertion to erase apprehension from the minds 
of the people, and to restore them to composure 
and to comfort. 

He relieved the natural horror which they all felt 
at the presence of a Frenchman, even if he were a 
captive, by sending the prisoners who were able to 
move, (which amounted to no more than six him- 
dred, many having died from the weakness conse- 
quent to their antecedent wants) to Twer. The 
sick and wounded, who still existed in the Found- 
ling hospital, and other infirmaries of the Kremlin, 
the merciful Iloviaskoy treated no longer as ene- 
mies, but directed that their quarters should be 
made comfortable, and put over them two of their 
owm surgeons who had been taken prisoners. 

Ye who have the blindness still to call the Rus- 
sian, a barbarian nation ; ye who speak with what 
the Scotch would call a glamoured vision of Napo- 
leon's warfare ; compare these characteristics of 
the two people, and say, which is civilized, which 
is human ! If nature may utter the truth, the 
spell is broken, and the tyrant will no longer be 
mistaken for a demi-god. 

When the ravages of the fires, lit by the emis- 
saries of Buonaparte, were stopped by the vigorous 
efibrts of the Russian soldiery ; the half-famished 



182 

natives who poured in from the woods ; and the 
perishing inhabitants, who crept from their vaulted 
sanctuaries, in the city, offered themselves to as- 
sist in clearing the squares and streets from the nu- 
merous bodies, both of horse and man, which lay 
in every direction, blocking up the passage, and 
polluting the air. Even the sacred pavements of 
the churches, were strewed with pestilential carcases. 
There, the patriot, had died to preserve his altars 
from profanation ; and there the sacrilegious viola- 
ter had expired under all the tortures of disease and 
famine. But the exposed remains of human mor- 
tality was not sufficient indignity in the eyes of 
Jiim who had worshipped the Goddess of French 
Republicanism ; and who had bowed to Mahomet 
in the Pyramids of Egypt ; — He introduced beasts 
of burthen into the churches of Moscow to defile 
their altars ; he poured out the blood of every liv- 
ing creature, on the pavement, Avho dared to con- 
tend with his will, or to say — Respect the house 
consecrated to the Creator ; spare the martyr who 
would die in its defence !" 

All were active, to the extremest exertion of 
their strength, to remove objects so agonizing to 
their hearts, so dangerous to their existence ; for 
the air had already become heavily infected with 
putridity. As you looked from the doors of the 
churches, along the streets, and over the squares, 
this sea of desolation presented to the eye in one 
view, the united ravages of a plague, with the bleeds 
ing horrors of a merciless war. 

In the course of a few days, the surface of the 
main streets was cleared, by throwing the dead 
bodies into the river Moskva, but the narrow lanes 
were yet blocked up with strongly wedged heaps of 
slain ; the murdered which lay in the wells, many 
of the cellers, and under all the ruins, were incaU 
culable, and from the stench could not be removed. 
The dread of a pestilence now spread itself over 
the city ; indeed nothing could have averted its 



183 

ravages but the rlgoiir of the season, which soon 
put the atmosphere in chains. 

On the 28th of October, Major-General Ivash- 
kin, the chief master of police, returned to the city, 
and resumed his functions. The Military Govern- 
or, the magnanimous Count Rastapchin was soon 
expected. All hearts opened to welcome a patriot 
whose name must ever be remembered with vene- 
ration and gratitude. Buonaparte, (whose personal 
enmity to an enemy, is ever a proof of that ene- 
my's fealty to his own country,) when he Avrites of 
Count Rastapchin, cannot forbear endorsing the 
diploma of his merits, with a thousand epithets of 
abuse. 

The patriotic reader need only read a transcript 
of the letter which this judicious and disinterested 
nobleman affixed to a gate opposite to his palace in 
the country, (to which noble building he set fire 
with his own hands ;) to understand how well 
Rastapchin deserved the hatred of the enemies of 
Russia. 

• " For eight years, I found my pleasure in embelr 
Kshing this country retreat. I lived here in perfect 
happiness, within the bosom of my family ; and 
those, around me, largely partook of my felicity. 
But you approach! and the peasantry of this do- 
main, to the number of one thousand seven hun- 
dred and twenty human beings, fly far av»^ay ; and 
I put the fire to my house ! We abandon all, we 
consume all, that neither ourselves nor our habita- 
tions may be polluted v,'ith your presence. 

" Frenchmen, I left to your avidity, two of my 
houses in Moscow, full of furniture and valuables 
to the amount of half a million of roubles : Here, 
you will find nothing but ashes. 

(Signed) Fedor, Count Rastapchin,^^ 



The moment the news was brought to Field-Mar- 
shal Koutousoff, that Moscow was again in the 



1S4 



hands 01 his troops, he spread the happy intelli- 
gence throughout the army and the empire in the 
foUowiiiff animated address : — 



ORDER ISSUED TO THE ARMIES, 

OCTOBER 19th, O. S. 31st N. S. 

The foUoTving Declaration is given for the Instruc- 
tion of all the Troops under my Command. 

"At the moment in which the enemy entered 
Moscow, he beheld the destruction of those pre- 
posterous hopes by which he had been flattered : 
he expected to find there Plenty and Peace ; and 
on the contrary he saw himself devoid of every ne- 
cessary of life ; harassed by the length of continu- 
ed marches ; exhausted for want of provisions ; 
Vv^earied and tormented by our parties intercepting 
his slender succours ; losing without the honour of 
battle, thousands of his troops, cut off by our provin- 
cial detachments ; and no prospect before him but 
the vengeance of an armed nation, threatening an- 
nihilation to the whole of his army. In every Rus- 
sian he beheld a hero, equally disdainful and ab- 
horrent of his deceitful promises : in every state of 
the empire he met an additional and insurmounta- 
ble rampart opposed to his strongest efforts. After 
sustaining incalculable losses by the attacks of our 
brave troops, he recognised at last, the prehenzy of 
his expectations, that the foundations of the empire 
w ould be shaken by his occupation of Moscow. 
Nothing remained for him, but a precipitate flight : 
the resolution was no sooner taken, than it was exe- 
cuted ; and he fled, abandoning nearly the whole 
of his sick, to the mercy of an outraged people, 
and leaving Moscow on the 1 1th of this month, 
completely evacuated. 

" The horrible excesses which he committed, 
while in that city, are already well known, and 
have left an inexhaustible sentiment of vengeance 



I 



185 

in the depths of every Russian heart ; but I have to 
add, that his impotent rage exercised itself, in blow- 
ing up part of the Kremlin, where, by a signal in- 
terposition of Divine Providence, the sacred Tem- 
ples and Cathedral have been saved. 

"Let us then hasten to pursue this impious ene- 
my, Avhile other Russian armies once more occupy- 
ing Lithuania, act in concert with us for his des- 
truction ! Already do we behold him in full flight, 
abandoning his baggage, burning his war carriages, 
and reluctantly separating himself from those 
treasures, which his profane hands had torn from 
the very altars of God. Already desertion and 
famine spread confusion before Napoleon ; and be- 
hind him, arise the murmurs of his troops, like the 
roar of threatening waves. While these appalling 
sounds attend the retreat of the French, in the ears 
of the Russians resounds the voice of their mag- 
nanimous monarch. Listen soldiers ! while he thus 
addresses you ? " Extinguish the flames of Mos- 
cow, in the blood of our invaders !" Russians ! 
let us obey this solemn command ! our injured 
country, appeased by this just vengeance, will then 
retire satisfied from the field of war, and behind 
the line of her extensive frontiers, will take her 
august station, between Peace and Glory 1 

" Russian warriors ! God is our Leader ! 

(Signed) 
** Marechal Prince GoUnistsheff Koutousoff* 

" General in Chief of all the Armies;" 



The army of General Essen had remained, since 
the affair of the 23d of August, without bling en- 
gaged in any enterprize of considerable moment. 
Its position was nearly the same as that which it 
took up immediately after the contest of that day ; 
and the attitude was so menacing, that a month 
. . 24 



188 

elapsed, and still the enemy evinced no signs of 
ventuirmg again to disturb its heroic vigilance. 

The communication was uninterrupted betvt^een 
the armies of Essen and of Vigtenstein ; and, had 
it not been for some slight firings from the French 
advanced posts^ no symptoms would have appeared 
of any wish to. interrupt iL 

• Esfeen Was f informed that considerable bodies of 
the tlivision opposed to him, had fallen back from 
Mittau, and leftlhat city . with a very inadequate 
guard. He lost no tinie in making preparations to 
possess himself of a place which, he knew, had long 
been the intermediate depot of the enemy for its 
provisions, and other necessaries required in that 
quafter. - ' 

, With this view he ordered a strong force to ad- 
fv-aut© tjo: Mittau. At the moment they set out, he 
placed' himself at their head. As they proceeded, 
he descriecC ^nie Prussian troops on the road lead- 
ing to Baousk : but they retiredwith precipitation 
oil perceiving the Rtissiaas, and left Ihe country 
quite open to their operations. Essen pushed on 
iiis cavalry, and, following soon after, entered the 
^•itv without opposition on the 29th of September. 
He took fifty efiective soldiers prisoners, and found 
about one hundred and fifty wounded in the hospi- 
tal. Four pieces of brass ordnance fell into his 
hands, and also a vast quantity of provisions, with 
the %hole mass of pelisses which had been collected 
from the requisition for furs, levied on the province 
of Courland, These last articles were of the ut- 
most consequence to the well-being of the army 
that possessed them in the cold season. That Was 
now fast approaching, and the want of furs during 
a wintef 's campaign in this northern climate, was a 
calamity almost as great as^ the want of food. ^ 

General D'York, who commanded in chief in 
this quarter, did not allow the Russians to remain 
long in unmolested possession of this city ; and, 
whilst he ordered General Grawart to move upon 



187 

Riga through Eckaii, D'York hiiriseif advanced to- 
wards Mittau, to drive Essen from his newly-ac- 
qiured post. 

The Russian General informed himself of his 
adversary's strength ; and finding that it lay princi- 
pally in cavalry, (a force particularly adapted to 
die nature of the ground on which they wercj) and 
QAvare that his own little army was much inferior iri 
this point ; thought it most prudent not to risk the 
lives of his soldiers in so manifest a disadvantage, 
but to withdraw in good order from the city. Be- 
fore he made this movement he took possession of 
all its military stores, and then retired from the 
place in tiie direction of Riga. By this march, he 
meant to unite his division with 1 hat of Lieutenant- 
General Count Stiengel, who was acting in front of 
the enemy, and who had left Riga r few days be- 
fore, the belter to cover it fromtiie French, who 
threatened to approach it from the vicinity of Pe- 
tergolf, a town near which they hovered in great 
numbers. This station afforded them many advan- 
tages, as it was situated near the roads that led to 
Dalenkirk and Eckau. 

Difficulties only stimulated the military talents of 
the gallant Steingel, and he distiibuted with admi- 
rable judgment, the several corps of his detach- 
ment along the most commanding points that lay 
between the enemy and his nearer approximation 
to Riga. To this end he placed his advanced guard, 
under the immediate orders of Major-General Ye- 
liaminoff, some wersts in front of a small village 
called Garossen, and which covered the road to 
Eckau. His left was near thai town, and extended 
along the high road on the opposite side of a neigh- 
bouring rivulet. 

On the morning of the 31st of September, the 
whole of his advanced posts, consisting of Cossacs 
and hussars, were attacked. They defended them- 
selves in a style of such intrepidity that the enemy 
was checked at this point with considerable logs?. 



The movement the French now made, induced 
General Veliaminoff to suspect that their next as- 
sault would be upon his left flank, the command of 
which he had entrusted to Colonel Count Galatee. 
His impression pro ved just ; for, in the course of a 
few minutes the enemy, in great strength, crossed 
the rivulet, and charged upon his left column. To 
repel this, the Russian artillery and tirailleurs open- 
ed a heavy fire, which told so well upon the advan- 
cing troops, that they retired with precipitation ; 
but a reinforcement Avith some pieces of ordnance 
coming to their support, after two attempts, their 
infantry penetrated to the high road near the village 
of Greden. Yeliaminoff observed the advantage 
the French had gained, and determined to dislodge 
them, dispatched a battalion of infantry, with Cos- 
sacs and artillery, to attack them in this quarter. 
The contest was obstinate ; but at last the brave 
Russians had the satisfaction of compelling their 
enemy to re-cross the rivulet, Avith a severe loss, 
and the dismounting of two of his guns. Howev- 
er he passed again, higher up the stream, sending 
forward a considerable force of infantry and artil- 
lery, with the intention of more effectually turn- 
ing the Russian left flank. Here again the battle 
re-commenced ; and, during four repeated efforts 
on the side of the French, was maintained with 
tremendous fury until night closed the scene ; and 
then the enemy, discomfited in all his ranks, thought 
it prudent to retire under the cover of the darkness* 

The Russian advanced guard was left victorious, 
and masters of the same ground they had occupied 
at the beginning of the affair. 

The loss on either side did not appear at all pro- 
portionate to the violence with which the combat 
had been fought. Four or five hundred, including 
killed and wounded, were all that suffered on that 
day. 

Although this affair was spoken of by the French 
as a slight thing, being only that of an advanced 



189 

guard ; yet it was sufficient to sliovv them the de- 
termined intrepidity of their foe ; and, Macdonald 
made such reflections on the event ag to induce 
him to move farther from his first position, and 
draw nearer to the Prussians. He was the inore 
inclined to this measure, as his allies seemed likely 
to be in a condition to need his support ; for news 
reached him on his march that a formidable rein- 
forcement to the Russians had disembarked at Ri- 
ga from Finland, under the command of Colonel 
Ridinger. 

This step on the part of the French General con- 
siderably facilitated the operations of Count Fig- 
tenstein, by liberating that part of his force v/hich 
he had left to watch the enemy's motions near Di- 
nabourgh and towards Jacobstadt. 

Several slight affairs continued to take place 
along the left bank of the Dwina ; and the activity 
and spirit of General Steingel never failed to keep 
Macdonald on the alert. The Prussians were, oq 
every occasion, backward in seconding the views 
of their ally ; and so it was not to be wondered at, 
when they remained dormant to the menacing de- 
monstrations of the Russian Commander, 

Early in October,, the General Aide-de-camp, 
Marquis of Paulutchi, was appointed to the com- 
mand at Riga. The changes he made in the posi- 
tions formed under the direction of General Essen, 
were very few ; and the most prominent was pla- 
cing a corps, under General Lewis, on the right 
bank of the Dwina at Kirkgolm, opposite to Gen- 
eral Yeliaminoff's left flank, which was then sta- 
tioned near Dalenkirke. This movement was to 
prevent Riga being menaced on that side ; and also 
to frustrate any attempts of the enemy to make ex- 
cursions into Livonia. 

From the troops of Steingel being permitted by 
the enemy to push forward with so little opposi- 
tion on his right, it was evident he meant to aban- 
don these parts of the shores of the Dwina : indeed 



190 

he maintained them with such carelessness, that the 
town of Frederickstadt, almost withoiil a blow, 
fell into the hands of the Russians on the 3d of 
October. 

This retrograde motion of the French General, 
freed the troops of General Lewis from the neces- 
sity of keeping Avatch on their side of the Dwina ; 
and, accordingly, they lost no time in recrossing the 
river, and forming a junction with Veliaminoff, 
Though the Russian General took every advantage 
that offered itself from these extraordinary mover 
ments of the French Generals, yet they could not 
form any satisfactory guess of the reasons on which 
they were founded. The Commander-in-chief at 
Riga thought it possible they meant to concentrate 
the 10th division of the French army, and then 
fall with its whole weight upon that city. The 
abandonment of the shore of the Dwina, by the 
enemy, so high up as Frederickstadt, was soon fol- 
lowed by a similar desertion all along its banks, 
even to Dinabourg ; and the troops, as they with- 
drew, were observed to take the road to Essoros. • 

Meanwhile, the detachment in advance from Ri- 
ga, under Steingel, steadily pursued its march ; 
and on the 10th of October found itself opposite to 
a part of Count Vigtenstein's army near Drissa. 
This fortunate junction decided the Count on im- 
mediately attempting an enterprise he had in me- 
diation ; and, with this in view, he moved in direct 
communication with the Riga troops, informing 
their chief of his plan to attack Polotzk, drive the 
enemy from that city, and then, by compelling him 
to quit his strong position in the neighbourhood, 
force him to retreat on the Yitepsk road, where he 
would become completely exposed to the assaults 
of both corps, and be cut off from any hope of 
forming an union with Macdonald. 

To this end, Yigtenstein directed General Stein- 
gel to second the main body on the right bank of 
liie river, by driving the enemy from his posts at 



Bononia and Rondna ; and, if possible, to possess 
himself of Eknmania, and then proceed to the vi- 
cinity of Polotzk. The carrying of these points* 
would prevent Gouvion St. Cyr from crossing the 
Dvvina at that city, and the consequent success 
must crown the most sanguine wishes of the Rus- 
sian coadjutors. 

The two Generals being thus in possession of 
their mutual intentions. Count Vigtenstein prepar- 
ep to move. 

On the 18th of October, (the morning of h'm 
first day's fighting for his present object,) his army 
was posted in the. following manner. His right 
wing extended from the. road leading to Drissa, in 
front of the village of Poplovo, on to the way of 
Tebeche, near Belse. These detachments were 
under the orders of Prince Yashyille, and commu- 
nicated with others under General SassnofF, in the 
heigljibourhpod of a small lake 'at Hbtouiychi. The 
Count himself headed the left and strongest divi- 
sion of his army ; and it was stationed on the road 
leading to Nevel, at the village of Ourovichi. 
^ At six o'clock the whole line began to move to 
the attack. . . ..* 

St. Cyr had placed the greater part of his forces 
in advance of their fortified position, and extended 
his pai'ties considerably in front, upon the roads 
occupied by the Russians. Kis redoubts and en- 
trenchments had long been receiving every addition 
froiti military ar.t and the city itself was encircled 
by a' double trench and a strong palisado. With 
these protections, .in case of a defeat, the French 
General thought- himself perfectly secure. The en- 
terprise undertaken by his opponents was very dar- 
ing, but the talents and pei^everance of Vigtenstien 
and his Generals, promised a brilliant result. St. 
Cyr was aware of the cljaraGters with which he had 
to contend ; he knew that in proportion as the dif- 
.ficuUigs of a Russian increase, so do his courage 
and magnanimity. 



Before seven o'clock all the advanced guards 
of the enemy, from his right flank to his left, were 
hotly engaged. They were continually reinforced 
by bodies of cavalry infantry, and artillery, which 
Covered the bank of the Dwina; but the impetu- 
osity of the Russians could not be resisted, and 
every renewal of the attack compelled the French 
to lose ground and numbers. Their right was 
heavily pressed by Count Vigtenstein. He bore 
down upon it with a concentrated force, and indi- 
vidual acts of valour that seemed more like a scene 
of chivalry Ihan a common battle. He had been 
joined by a little army from St. Petersburgh, and 
these fresh coldiers, full of indignation at the ene- 
mvy and panting for glory, charged upon them with 
nn enthusiasm of valour that performed deeds which 
r<wiraanded the admiration of the oldest vetran 
on the field. 

St. Cyr, seeing his troops rapidly fall back, and 
that, if his present position were Torced from him 
tliey must be entirely lost, called up a formidable 
support of Bavarians, Saxons, and Poles. These 
sturdy soldiers caused the ground to be again con- 
tested, and by the vigour of their exertions check-* 
ed the Russian career. 

For several hours both armies struggled for the 
advantage. They poured death into each other's 
ranks, and hundreds on each side heaped the ex^ 
tended plani so bloodily disputed. 

The French at length gave way. Their first re- 
trograde symptom was observed on the instant, by 
the vigilant eye of Yigtenstein. He pushed for- 
ward a regiment of hussars, and a detachment of 
light artillery, towards the retiring point ; and, by 
the fierceness of theif charge, precipitated their 
retreat. The confusion spread to the centre, where 
the work of death was not less vehemently pursued. 
The left too, partook of the dismay, and with one 
accord the whole line turned about, and the flight 
Was g'eneral. 



193 

Count Vigtenstein pursued, till the breathless 
enemy found a shelter behind his entrenchments ; 
and, the gloom of night falling upon the bloody 
chase, the victors listened disdainfully to the guns 
which the defeated opened from their batteries up- 
on their pursuers, and impatiently watched the 
dawn of that sun which was to light them on the 
morrow to the total destruction of their enemies. 

Meanwhile General Steingel had pushed on to 
the town of Drouya, where he fell in with a party 
of Macdonald's corps. They attempted to stop 
bis advance, and, though the stand was obstinately 
maintained, he gave them a total overthrow ; and, 
driving them across the river Dissna, cleared the 
road through the city of that name. This last ad- 
vantage he was the more eager to acquire, because 
it would enable him (should it be required) to as- 
sist the operations of his brave coadjutor. The 
loud and lengthened cannonade he heard, convin- 
ced bim that vigtenstein had been long engaged ; 
and he lost no tune in executing his part of their 
great military enterprise. 

He sent immediate dispatches of his success to 
the Count, and having received the answerp, he de- 
sired, at five o'clock in the afternoon the attacks 
were to be opened on both shores. It is scarcely 
possible to paint the burning impatience which 
glowed in every breast along the Russian line. 
The moment of a final victory over this division of 
their enemy was come, and each individual felt 
himself ennobled in the privilege of becoming the 
champion of his country, in dying for her rights, 
or conquering for her glory. 

The French contemplated the formidable array 
of their adversaries, and opened on them the whole 
range of their batteries with a tremendous cannon- 
ade. The dauntless Russians grasped their bayo- 
nets, and breasted this shower of balls, regardless 
of destruction. The parapets were forced, the re- 
doubts carried, and heaps of brave men fell on 

25 



194: 

both sides, choking up the very gorges of the works 
with their accumulating bodies. 

The resistance made by the enemy was worthy 
of a better cause, but the determination of patri- 
otism prevailed, and the emmissaries of tyranny 
were driven in at all points, seeking a short protection 
from the palisadoes, and then the city. Their re- 
treating steps were fast pressed by their victors^ 
and as the latter advanced, the winelows of the 
houses were filled with French soldiers, Avho pour- 
ed a heavy fire of bullets upon the heads of the in- 
trepid Russians. This salute was answered by one 
of more than equal power, with musquetry, grape^ 
and ball. 

Yi^tenstein gave orders for a 2"eneral assaults 
His troops, who had panted for that command, 
rushed on like a torrent. Nothing withstood their 
ardour. The palisadoes yielded to the crowds 
which pressed over them ; and, at a hundred points 
the city became the scene of terror and of death. 
Sufficient praise cannot be bestowed on the exer- 
tions of the generals and officers who headed these 
overwhelming bands, and led their spirit to so de- 
cisive a purpose. 

Amidst the crash and ruin which resounded in 
every quarter, General St. Cyr being severely 
wounded, and seeing that every thing was going 
against him, adopted the only means of saving the 
remainder of his army. His resolution was soon 
spread throughout his discomfited rank, and, col- 
lecting the remnant of his artillery, they extricated 
themselves v/ith great effort from the confusion in 
the city, and wilh their General precipitately began 
to cross the Dwina. 

Meanwhile, General Steingel bad not been less 
fortunate. He succeeded in beating the enemy's 
parties at Bononia, and drove them to within four 
wersts of Polotzk, on the left bank of the Dwina. 
This advantage threatened to block , up the retreat 
of St. Cyr in that direction. . _ . 



195 

Such demonstrations ur^ed th& French General 
to lose nothne in accomplishing ws purpose. By 
a prompt exertion lie had pas^d over the day be- 
fore, his wounded and guns. Being thus lightened 
of the heaviest objects of interest, with greater ease 
he moved forward his people, and by three o'clock 
in the morning of the 20th, they had made their 
escape from the city, breakfng down the bridg- 
es as they crossed, and taking every other meth- 
od of throwing obstacles in the way of their pur- 
suers. He took the road towards Yileyka, ho- 
ping some where in that neighbourhood to fall in 
with General Victor, who had been sometime on 
his march to join the grand army. 

The loss of the enemy, during these two days, 
was great in killed, wounded, and prisoners. 
Amongst the latter were forty-five officers of dif- 
ferent ranks, and two thousand soldiers. The 
wounded of the 18th of the month, having been 
immediately transported across the Dwina, their 
numbers cannot be accurately stated ; but the kil- 
led and wounded of the 1 9th must have amounted 
to three thousand. Amongst the latter was St. Cyr 
himself. 

The trophies of the Russians in this affair, were 
many cannon, and several large magazines of corn 
and provisions, which , the enemy had not time to 
destroy. ^ 

The loss experienced by Yigtenstein, in the fail 
of his brave companions, was not inconsiderable. 
Amongst the officers wounded were Major-General 
Balk, the Princes Sibersky and Gamen, and Colo- 
nel Rott ; likewise the Chamberlain MordwinofF, 
chief of the division of the St. Petersburgh arma- 
ment, had his leg shot away while gallantly leading 
forward his patriot followers. About fourteen hun- 
dred of these brave defenders of their country re- 
ceived indelible marks in their persons, of the glo- 
rious deeds of these two memorable days. Well 
do breasts deserve stars of honour from their sove- 



196 

reigns, which are already stamped with the insigtiia 
of heroism by tl^|scars of many a hard-fought field. 

The list of woiiiiied was particularly numerous 
in this victory, for the General-in-chief found it 
impossible to qjieck the ardour of the new troops. 
The moment the word was given to advance, they 
rushed forward, and threw themselves by whole 
columns into the enltenchments and batteries of the 
enemy. Such zeal gained in position what it lost 
in numbers ; but it added to the honourable cata- 
logue of those who bled, the Generals VlastofF, 
SassnofF, and Dibsitch; Colonel Redigir, and the 
brave Senator BibikoiT. 

General Steingel, seconded by Major-General 
Fock, added nobly to the renown of these two de- 
cisive days. He took six hundred prisoners, amongst 
whom Avere thirty-seven officers. And the cavalry 
of his division, headfed by Colonel Bedriaga, were 
then in pursuit of the flying enemy. 

The sentiments of the planner of this success, 
may be found below in a letter from Count Yigten- 
stein to Lieutenant-General Count Steingel. 

" I have the honour to congratulate your Excel- 
lency on the taking of Polotzk, for Avhich achieve- 
ment I feel greatly indebted to the co-operation of 
the corps under your command. 

" I hope to see you to-m^^KPW in this city to con- 
sult with you on our future^an^. 

" I beg your Excellency will order Lieutenant- 
Colonel Bedriaga to follow up the enemy as rapid- 
ly as possible, as my cavalry cannot in consequence 
of the ruined state of the bridges which cross the 
Dwina. 

" I am this instant occupied in filling the ram- 
parts of the monastery with cannon, to open upon 
the remnant of the enemy I can yet descry on the 
opposite shore, 

(Signed) " Count Vigtenstein, 

" General of Cavalry.''* 

^« Polotzk, Oct. 8th, 1812, O. S. 
Oct. 20th, 1812, N.S," 



197 

The success of Lieutenant-Colonel Bedriaga was 
answerable to the hopes of the 0o commanders, 
and a complete clearing of this |^rt of the country 
of the enemy, was the result. By this important 
series of events the city of St. Pet^sburgh was rid 
of the alarm which had possessed son:|fi of its citi- 
zens, that Macdonald would appear before her 
gates. The total overthrow of that General, ren- 
dered the imperial residence perfectly secure ; and 
indeed it is not to be doubted but that the military 
skill of the Commander-in-chief on the Dv/ina, and 
gallantry of his army, wer^ the salvation of that 
capital. But still, had it so happened that St. Pe- 
tersburgh had followed the fate of Moscow, no 
arms could have subdued his spirit who held this 
principle ; " Walls are not my empire. If the 
enemy seize on Moscow, I have St. Petersburgh ; 
if St. Petersburgh become their prey, 1 have Arch- 
angel ; if Archangel be lost, I have my fleets and 
the hearts of my people, and Russia is still my 
empire." » 

As another instance of the system of falsehood 
with which Napoleon and his Generals universally 
deceive the I^^'rench nation, and make it dream of 
conquests, when the blood oF its sons has in fact 
been wasted, I will finish this account of the no- 
ble day of Polotzk, byadding the French report of 
the affair. ^JF 

" General Vigt^stein bavins; been reinforced by 
the divisions of Russians from Finland, and a great 
part of the militia corps, attacked Marshal St. Cyr 
on the 18th of October. Vigtenstein was repulsed 
by the Marshal and General Wrede, who took up- 
wards of three thousand prisoners, and covered the 
field of battle with their dead. On the 20th, Mar- 
shal Govion St. Cyr, having learnt that the Marshal 
* Duke of Belluno (Victor) was on his march to re- 
inforce him, re-passed the Dwina to meet him. Af- 
ter having effected the junction, he means to attack 
Yigtenstein, and to oblige him to repass the Dwina. 



198 

" Marshal Govion St. Cyr bestows the highest 
praises on his t|:oops. The division of Swiss has 
distinguished itself by its coolness and bravery. 
Colonel Guena of the 26th regiment of infantry, 
has been wounded slightly. The Marshal St. Cyr 
also has received a ball in his foot. The Marshal 
Buke of Keggio (Oudinot) is arrived at the army 
to replace him, and to re-establish the command of 
the second corps." 



1? 

Victory having now declared itself on all points 
for the valiant Russians, the whole attention of the 
Commander-in-chief was turned to rendering it 
complete ; not by driving the enemy out of the 
empire ; but by holding him in it till he should ex- 
pire, like Antaeus, in the arms of his conqueror. 

The perilous state to which Napoleon would be 
exposed, after having been compelled by his neces- 
sities to abandon Moscow, the extremities to which 
he must be reduced to subsist his troops, and to 
provide for them a place of refuge, were all before 
the comprehensive eye of Marshal Koutousoff. 
He sav/ with particular satisfaction the movements 
of the enemy, and the direction in which they were 
marching. He was directly in their front ; and, on 
the moment of their evacuation of the city, he dis- 
patched orders to the different branches of the Rus- 
sian army, wherever they might be stationed, to 
move inward, and draw rapidly around the invader. 
By this manoeuvre he would meet an opposition at 
every point whence he had thought it possible to 
make a retreat ; and his troops, finding themselves 
encompassed by walls of circumvallation more im- 
pregnable than stone and iron bulwarks — the sted- 
fast phalanx of the Russian empire in arms ! — < 
must either surrender in despair, or perish within 
the circle. 

Couriers were dispatched to Vigtenstein, why. 



199 

having freed himself from his antagonist, was com- 
manded to move forward, and in a direction to 
meet the armies of the Danube and of Tormozoft', 
which had united on the 1 7th of September in the 
neighbourhood of Loutzk. Orders were sent to 
their commanders also, to push forward towards 
Minsk, to check the French who moved in that 
quarter. 

General Tormozoff, after defeating the enemy in^ 
August, (as has been stated,) I'etired upon Ko~ 
brine, where he .remained for some time, annoying 
the Saxon and Austrian divisions by continually in- 
tercepting the convoys of every description, which 
came from the Dutchy of Warsaw by the way of 
Breslitofsky. 

Having performed these services and being ap- 
prised of the advance of the army of the Danube 
under the command of Admiral TchitchagotT, he 
took immediate steps to form a junction with that 
army and to draw closer his chain of communication 
with the division that was organizing at Mazir un- 
der the direction of Lieutenant-General Hertel. 

To effect these objects he fell back to the bank 
of the river Styr, near the city of Loutzk. 

The enemy not aware of the purpose of these 
movements, revived in hope, and lost no time in 
over-running the small part of Volhynia just left ; 
and General Dombrofsky with his Polish division 
(which had occupied Mohilotf on the departure of 
Prince Poniatofsky,) showed himself in every quar- 
ter. With an admirable activity he dispatched his 
parties in every direction, and by these links (for a 
short time at least) kept up an uninterrupted com- 
munication with the corps of Renier and Prince 
Swartzenburg. His detachments were at Gloutzk, 
Pinzk, and the other towns and villages situated 
between him and the divisions of the French and 
Austrian Generals, whose line 'stretched to the 
shores of the Boug, near Olesk and Kovel. 



200 

During the time that Tormozoff awaited on the 
banks of the Styr the coming up of the army from 
Moldavia, his advanced posts and reconnoitering 
parties had several smart skirmishes with those of 
the enemy. They kept each other on the continual 
alert, and renewed the contest day by day, at eve- 
ry opportunity of meeting, although the one side 
fought with the disadvantage of the fortune of the 
hour almost constantly fixing itself upon the Rus- 
sian sword. The Cossacs daily passed the river a 
la nagCy and brought in numbers of prisoners. 

On the 20th of September a rencontre took place 
between some cavalry of both armies, which, from 
its effects, may be considered as an affair of more 
than usual consequence. 

Count de Lambert (who commanded in the Rus- 
sian army, and was stationed on its left at Tourgo- 
vitch,) hearing that a strong body of the enemy's 
dragoons was to march through a village at some 
little distance on the opposite bank of the Styr, or- 
dered several squadrons of Cossacs, under the com- 
mand of Colonel Prince Bragation, and Count Buc- 
hovden, two officers of the Imperial hussars, to 
cross the river and advance to the place through 
which the French cavalry were to pass. 

The Cosaacs and their gallant leaders were soon 
over the Styr, and reaching the village undiscover- 
fed, fell suddenly upon the enemy ; who, not think- 
ing to find their adversary so near, were taken by 
surprise, and began the contest in some confusion. 
It lasted only an hour, for the first consternation of 
the French troops never subsided ; they fought in 
disorder, and soon fled with precipitation, leaving 
many of their comrades dead on the field. One 
hundred and forty soldiers with eleven officers, 
were taken prisoners, and three standards fell into 
the hands of the victors. 

The young soldiers who formed the division un- 
der General Hertel, and who were stationed far to 
the right of TormozoiF, w^ere not less actively em- 



201 

ployed. They were eager to try their yet unprac- 
tised arms; and their judicious commander did not 
curb their enthusiasm, but led them to every oc- 
casion of proving their courage. On the beginning 
of August he learnt that Dombrofsky, who for 
some time had occupied Mohiloflf, was preparing 
to quit that place. He had two objects in this 
movement; to re-establish his dispersed parties, 
with an intention of investing the city and fortress 
of Bobruisk, which was garrisoned by Russians ; 
and to join a reinforcement which was arrived in 
the neiglibourhood of Sloutzk. By accomplishing 
these designs, he hoped to strengthen himself, and 
to cut off the communication of the division at Ma- 
zir with the other Russian corps. 

Hertel was not backward in guessing at what the 
change in his adversary's position pointed; and 
forming an immediate plan to circumvent him, 
he dispatched reconnoitering parties towards Voult- 
sha and Garbatchvichi, at which places the enemy 
had formed considerable magazines, and these 
magazines the brave Russians were determined to 
destroy. Meanwhile the General himself marched 
to Bobruisk, and by his appearance, and the station 
of his troops, not only defeated the hopes of Dom- 
brofsky in that quarter, but completely separated 
him from the approach of his expected reinforce- 
ment. 

This being effected, Hertel led on a strong body 
of his forces to move towards Gloutzk. On their 
march they hourly fell in with foraging parties of 
the enemy, who were convoying droves of cattle, 
and carts full of provisions for man and beast. 
These the victors seized, and, taking the escort 
prisoners, sent the plunder back to the villages 
whence it had been ravaged. 

On the 14th of September, Hertel reached the 
neighbourhood of Gloutzk, and having a thick 
wood to pass through, in which lay the roads lead- 
ing to the town, he divided his little army into two 

26 



202 

colamns, composing their advanced guards, of CoS" 
sacs, hussars, some light infantry, and a few pieces 
of flying artillery. 

As he proceeded to the openings of the wood 
through which his columns were to. make their 
way he discovered the enemy posted in front of the 
suburbs of the city. His force appeared to be 
chiefly cavalry, with about one thousand infantry, 
and a few guns : the rest of his troops were in the 
town. 

No sooner were the Russian columns descried ap- 
proaching from the wood, than the whole of the 
French cavalry, to the number of six hundred, 
rushed forward to the attack. The Cossacs and 
hussars, supported by their artillery, gave them a 
firm reception. Under cover of this war of sa- 
bres and of guns, the Russian infantry rapidly form- 
ed, and charging in their turn, soon drove the ene- 
my back to the suburbs and thence into the town. 
Here a short resistance was made, but the over- 
whelming valour of the Russians overturned every 
obstacle, and cutting down the enemy wherever they 
presented themselves, every street was the theatre 
of triumph, and with shouts of acclamation they 
saw the last ranks of the French precipatately re- 
treat and abandon the city. 

The discomfited General hastily crossed the river 
Ftitchy with his shattered army, and with as much 
expedition destroyed the bridge by which his es- 
cape was effected. 

But these measures were but a short security. 
Hertel soon restored the ruined arches, and with 
his brave eUvcs passed over to complete the defeat 
of the invaders of their country. 

The enemy having consolidated his force, made 
a show of resistance, but the Cossacs and hussars 
charging his ranks with their usual determination, 
compelled them to give ground. Still however they 
maintained the conflict, receding and fighting, till 
the Russians inflamed with impatience, assaulted 



203 

lliem with such increased fury tliat they could no 
longer stand ; and turning round, they fairlij took 
to ffitir heels. I know no olher term that could so 
truly express the haste and manner of their flight. 

General Hertel being thus left in quiet posses^ 
sion of the city and its environs, took two hundred 
and fifty prisoners, and a large magazine of corn. 
But determined to suffer no delay in the prosecu- 
tion of his plans, which comprised the seizure or 
destruction of the enemy's depots in Voultsha and 
Garbatchvichi, and the prevention of the French 
flying squadrons joining the detachment from Dom- 
brofsky, then on its march towards Bobruisk, the 
persevering Hertel again put his eager troops in 
motion. 

At the distance of ten wersts from Gloutzk his 
advanced parties came up with a numerous body 
of infantry, who were fugitives from his late victo- 
rious field. Seeing themselves so closely pursued, 
they hastily formed, covering their flanks with two 
pieces of cannon and some light troops ; but the 
completion of their line was not allowed to be 
made, for their old enemies the Cossacs and hus- 
sars, followed by a regiment of infantry precipita- 
ted themselves upon their ranks, and mowed them 
down in the midst of the disorder they occasioned 
without the pause of a minute. While this death- 
ful work was going forward in the van, the Russsian 
General ordered the Wood in their flank to be pene- 
trated, that he might gain their rear. This was 
done ; and the enemy finding himself nearly sur- 
rounded, rose with the occasion, and fought with 
a desperation that almost made his opponents stag- 
ger. After five hours hard fighting, in w^hich every 
man in the opposing legions must have found him- 
self a hero, the French wounded and faint, yield- 
ed the contest by rushing into the woods; there 
peeking a miserable shelter, ivhile their more fortu- 
nate comrades lay dead or trying upon the disputed 
field. 



204 

The enemy lost upwards of one thousand men 
in killed and wounded, in this action, and one 
hundred and fifty as prisoners to the Russians, who 
took them with their two pieces of cannon. 

On the side of General Hertel, the loss was com- 
paratively small, amounting to no more than two 
hundred killed and wounded ; but even these were 
great to him who lamented in each individual the 
early fall of one formed to reflect increasing honour 
on the soldier's name. 

After compelling his indefatigable troops to take 
a few hours' repose, they impatiently listened for 
his command to pursue their career. That given, 
they were again in array, and on the road to Voult- 
sha, and Garbatchvichi. They needed only to ap- 
pear before those places to receive the reward of 
their toil in the crowning of their enterprise. Both 
magazines fell into their hands ; and Dombrofsky, 
hearing that the Russian force was coming upon 
him, broke up his lines before the forti'ess of Bo- 
bruisk, and fell rapidly back upon MohilofF. 

Whilst this success attended the troops under 
General HerteFs personal command, a detachment 
from his army under General Zapolsky, had de^ 
feated a party of Austrians close to the town of 
Pinsk. The result was the abandonment of that 
place by the enemy, who retired upon Lubaschevo. 
A very large magazine filled with all kinds of stores 
was found by the victors in Pinsk. 

When General Renier and Prince Swartzenburg 
were apprised of the union of the army of the Dan- 
ube with that of TormozoiT, they made prepara- 
tions for an immediate retreat towards Brest-Li- 
tofsky. The Russians were as prompt in pursuit, 
and the roads over which they passed presented a 
thousand traces of the haste with which the dis- 
comfited invaders retrod their steps. Dead horses, 
broken tumbrils, cart§, and destroyed stores, were 
every where strewed along the path. The advan- 
ced parties of the retreating and pursuing armies 



205 

were at hourly rencontre, killing numbers and ma- 
king many prisoners. At last the Russian force 
pressed so close upon Swartzenburg, that he was 
obliged to hasten his march, and entirely evacuate 
the country before the troops so recently driven 
from Pinsk could make their way to his standard* 
Thus was Yolhynia disencumbered of the load 
which had so long burthened her fields, 5.nd her 
cities ; but ere the enemy had reached the vicinity 
of Vlodava and of Brest, he left upon the ground 
he had so oppressed, upwards of two thousand kil- 
led, and five hundred prisoners in the hands of his 
pursuers. 

When the Austrian Prince and his soldiers, with 
Renier and his followers, halted at Vlodava and 
Brest, they did not r^st there, but pushed across 
the river Boug towards Brest-Litofsky. They were 
about forty thousand men strong, and here took up 
a position ; but finding it expedient to dispatch the 
greater part of their force again to the opposite 
bank, they recrossed the river near that town, and 
entrenclied themselves between Mouchovitza and 
tlie Lessna. The former is a little stream that flows 
into the Boug, and the latter pays its tribute to 
the game great river several wersts distant, near 
Bratouyanib. 

TchitchagofT's columns having kept on the right 
bank of the Boug, followed the enemy's motions 
in a parallel direction ; and, after crossing the 
Mouchovitza at three places, arrived on the 11 th 
of October opposite to their front. His reconnoit- 
ering parties brought him information that decided 
him on making an attack early next morning. But 
lojig after dawn it continued so extremely dark that 
the nearest object could hardly be discerned. On 
the clouds clearing away he bore • down upon the 
French position, when, to his infinite disappoint- 
ment, he found that the enemy had abandoned his 
lines and disappeared. In fact, Swartzenburg and 
Renier had taken advantage of the night, and the 



206 

obscurity of the morning to move off unperceived, 
and to retreat across the Lessna, in the direction of 
Vissoko-Litofsk. 

Tile Russians lost no time in commencing the 
chase, and their advance-guards soon came up with 
the rear of the fugitives, even in the moment of 
their passing the river. A hot contest ensued, and 
many foil on both sides ; the Russians fought at 
disadvantage, and the enemy crossed. Renier and 
his coadjutor had foreseen the pursuit, and prepar- 
ed for it by placing pieces of artillery on the oppo- 
site bank, and lining the wood that overshadowed 
it with chasseurs. These kept up a heavy fire on 
their pursuers, and prevented them from immedi- 
ately following the French rear across the stream. 
Indeed it was not until the next morning that the 
Russian commander found he could proceed with 
advantage ; and then the pursuit was prosecuted 
with such speed and effect, that the enemy were 
driven far beyond Vissoko, and induced to make a 
rapid march towards Bialistock. 

During this whole affair from the first to the last 
of the pursuit, the Russians had about two hundred 
sixty men killed and wounded, besides six officers. 
The enemy's loss was considerable. Four hundred 
were left on the road dead or dying ; and seven 
hundred men, including twenty officers, were taken 
prisoners. 

Meanwhile Major-General Dochtoroff and Colo- 
nel Tschernicheff, with some regiments of light cav- 
alry, had been detached to the opposite shore of 
the Boug, at Brest-Litofsky, with orders to march 
upon Bialo-Lublin, and to dispatch their troops to 
the right and left, to destroy all the magazines 
they could find, and to make observations for fu- 
ture movements, in the event of a complete evacu- 
ation of the country by the French. 

The objects of this pursuit in so many points, 
was not merely to harass the enemy, but to drive 
him entirely out of that part of the country which 



207 

horded upon the lands whence the Russian armies 
in this quarter must draw their subsistence. 

Admiral Tchitchagoff, being informed that the 
retreating forces had passed the Nareva, dispatched 
a corps which moved swiftly after them. It was 
rtieant rather to observe than attack, and by hover- 
ing over the movements of the enemy in the direc- 
tion of Bialistock, it would greatly facilitate the 
design of the Admiral to open a correspondence 
Avith the army of the Dwina, and to cut off this di- 
vision of the grand army from any communication 
with Buonaparte. 

One spirit of flight seemed now to pervade the 
French forces throughout the whole empire. In 
this quarter they retreated with a haste that did not 
permit them to make any observations of what was 
passing in their rear ; and therefore the brave 
Tchitchagoff felt no uneasy anticipation of their 
attempting to return, when his recall to the interior 
should lessen the numbers of their pursuers* In 
vain would the divisions under the immediate com- 
mand of Napoleon have wished to partake the 
escape of those under Renier and Prince Swart- 
zenburg : Koutousoff had got them strongly hem- 
med in, and to complete the circle he was drawing 
around them and their dictator, he dispatched or- 
ders to Admiral TchichagolT to hasten his move- 
ments towards Minsk, as his troops were required 
in that quarter to intercept the Grand Army, which 
was then in full flight from Moscow. 

This intelligence no sooner reached the Com- 
mander of the army of the Danube, than he set 
forward. He had already cleared Yolhynia, and 
great part of the government of Grodno of their 
iijivaders. The detachment which he sent into the 
government of Warsaw, had carried terror to the 
gates of its capital ; and returned to him, after ha- 
ving destroyed numerous valuable magazines in 
their path. 

When the Admiral directed his march towards 



2m 

Minsk, (wliich he did on the 1st of November,) 
Lieutenant-General Sakin was left, at the head of 
a body of troops at Brest-Litofsky, with orders to 
remain in observation on the Duchy of Warsaw. 
General Liders was then at Voline, and with Gen- 
eral Hertel, had received commands to move with 
all expedition upon Minsk. Liders was to proceed 
by the way of Pinsk, and Hertel through Gloutz^k, 
whilst the army of the Danube directed its course 
towards Proujany. From that place it would con- 
tinue its route through Slonim, Nes wick-mire, an^ 
so onwards to Minsk, at which point the Admiral 
hoped to arrive on the 19th of November. 



Field-Marshal Koutousoff having had ac- 
curate information of the growing miseries of the 
French during their occupation of Moscow, and 
of the extremities to which their leader was reduc- 
ed, foresaw the speedy evacuation of that city, and 
the consequent state of the enemy. He therefore 
lost no time in making such preparations for the 
event as would render it decisive of the fate of 
Napoleon and his army. 

The head-quarters of the Russian main army 
had been removed from Krasnoy-Pocra to the vil- 
lage of Touratino, where it was entrenched on the 
2d of October ; but on the 4th it changed its posi- 
tion to the village of Letachevka, further on the 
Kalouga road. From these points the Command- 
er-in-cheif dispatched his orders, and dispersed his 
divisions into every avenue into which it was possi- 
ble the enemy in his flight might attempt to pene- 
trate. Myriads of armed men covered the country 
from the vicinity of Bronitza to the grand road of 
•Mqjaisk, and thence thro' Klim on the opposite side 
io Dimitroff and Vladimer. The peasantry beheld 
the hour of retribution at hand, and they presented 
themselves every where in multitudes, «orae on foot 



209 

and others on horseback, to assist the soldiery in 
the destruction of their enemies. 

At this juncture of affairs, the Field-Marshal's 
own words will give the most satisfactory account 
of the relative state of the hostile armies. He thus 
writes : 

"During the last eight days the Russian army 
has occupied the right bank of the Nara, near the 
•Tillage of Jarontino, where it now remains in a 

Jstate of tranquillity, Avhile it augments its strength ; 
every regiment is kept up in its original numerical 
force, by troops continually arriving from the dif- 
ferent governments. Prince LobanofF Shostousky, 
General of infantry, superintends the formation 
and discipline of these recruits ; who, daily exer- 
cised in the camp, rapidly acquire military knowl-^ 
edge, and become impatient for its display in active 
service. Excellent water, and abundant forage, 
give every advantage to our present situation : 
the regulations for the distribution of provisions 
are so admirably adapted to their object, that a 

* want of any kind is unknown amongst our troops. 
The roads are covered with numerous waggons la- 
den with the superfluity of adjacent governments. 
Convalescent officers and soldiers daily re-join 
their regiments, while the sick and wounded, still 
in the bosom of their country, enjoy the inestima- 
ble privilege of being surrounded by the tender 
cares of their own families. 

" Meanwhile, that confusion which prevails in 
the enemy's army, prevents him from attempting 
to disturb our repose : his remoteness from his own 
dominions deprives him of supplies ; his subsist- 
ence, therefore, becomes hourly more precarious ; 
and the prisoners unanimously confess that their 
army have long had no other meat than horse-flesh, 
and that bread was even scarcer than meat. The 
total want of forage reduces their cavalry and horse- 
artillery to the utmost wretchedness ; the greatest 

27 



210 

part of this cavalry has been alreatly destroyed m 
the preceding combats, and particularly in the me- 
raorable day of the 26th of August (7th Sept. N. 
S>) a day so glorious to the Russian name ! The 
iniserable remnant that is left, surrounded on all 
sides by our detachments that cut off every supply, 
sutfer from the severest scarcity. Pressed by wanty 
and straitened in means, Ihe enemy can no longer 
attempt any thing beyond some feeble efforts to 
secure those escorts of provisions^ which' a>re uni- 
formly beaten by our foraging parties. Our prin- 
cipal detachments upon the roads of Mojaisk, of 
St, Petersburgh, of Kolomna, and of Sespouehoff, 
rarely suffer a day to pass without bringing in up^ 
wards of three hundred prisoners ; even the peas- 
ants, belonging to the villages bordering on the 
seat of war, cause infinite vexation and loss to our 
invaders. 

" Russia, which in every age has distinguished 
herself amongst the nations of the earth, by love 
for her sovereigns, burns to-day with more than 
Jier a^ncient zeal to defend the throne of her Empe- 
ror, and to avenge her wrongs; filled with pat- 
. riotic ardour, the peasants arrange themselves into 
armies ; they post sentinels upon the tops of the 
hills, and of the churches, to watch the approach 
of the enemy, and when he is descried the tocsin is 
. sounded, the patriot warriors rush into their self- 
formed ranks, pour with the force of mingled tor- 
rents upon these brigands, and stay their over- 
whelming tide only by the total destruction of their 
opposers. 

" Every day they are seen crowding to the camp 
bringing prisoners to head-quarters, and demanding 
arms and ammunition ; the demand of these true 
sons of their country is never denied, while there 
remains' the means of gratifying it. In many pla- 
ces these brave peasants have collectively taken a 
solemn oath to continue embodied for the common 
defence, and have at the same lime enacted laws. 



211 

by which the severest punishments are decreed 
for such as should basely desert their voluntarj 
pledge. 

** That awfol arm, which sustains the just and 
strikes the unjust, is now manifestly stretched forth 
in wrath over the head of our enemies ! — Intelli- 
gence has just arrived, that after completely routing 
the French, the Spaniards and the English have re- 
taken Madrid ; thus our invaders are discomfited 
every where ; and while they are falling by thou- 
sands at one extremity of Europe, at the other 
their graves are digging in the soil of that empire 
which they vainly menaced with annihilation !'" 

The task of reconnoilering the great high road 
leading to Wiazma and Gchatz, was entrusted to 
the active zeal of Major-General Dorochoff'. Be- 
sides this duty, he was ordered to attack the city 
of Yereya, which the enemy had garrisoned, to 
take it by assault, and to destroy the fortifications 
which they had recently constructed. This ac- 
complished, the left of the imperial army would be 
freed from an impediment in its movements, and 
the whole country would be clear to the Gchatz 
road. 

On the 2d of October, General Dorechoff joined 
his advanced corps under Colonel Prince Yadbal- 
sky and Colonel Davidoff, and pushed on to the 
country between Seml^vo and Wiazma, Avhere he 
surprised the enemy; and between the 2d and i3tlj 
of October took upwards of a hundred carriages 
of various descriptions laden with plunder and pro- 
visions wrested from the peasantry, and nearly a 
hundred head of cattle. During the rencontres 
with convoys, foragers, and marauders, which put 
him in possession of this spoil, he killed and took 
of the enemy more than two thousand men, with a 
great number of officers, and six pieces of can- 
non. 

Vereya had been strengthened by the French, 



212 

and was considered by them a valuable depot for 
their arms, plunder, and provisions. Napoleon 
had placed there a garrison of one thousand five 
hundred men, composed of French and Westpha- 
lians ; and when the Russians under Dorochoff 
approached to attack it, the town showed signs on 
every side of a determined resistance. However, 
the spirit that moved to the assault was as resolute 
as that which opposed it. Although the Russian 
General found the ascent to the fortifications ex- 
tremely steep, and that they were rendered more 
secure by firm rows of palisadoes, he gave orders 
to carry the whole by storm. The deed followed 
the command ; and the columns which led the at- 
tack were conducted by four intrepid citizens of 
Vereya. The native inhabitants of the town 
watched with anxiety the salvation their brethren 
had promised to bring them from Koutousoff's 
camp, and hailed with bounding hearts the ap- 
proach of the Russian legions. They descried the 
standards of Dorochoff ; and in the rear of his line 
a body of peasantry, with their hatchets and pick- 
axes, led on by a venerable priest to destroy the 
works and palisadoes. 

At five o'clock in the morning of the 10th the 
whole of the advanced party had passed the first 
line of defence; this achieved, they rushed into 
the ditch, and in less than half an hour the Russian 
bayonets had made their way into the heart of the 
town. The priest and his warlike band soon level- 
led the parapets and bastions in all quarters, and 
glided their brethren in arms to sweep the city of 
its insolent intruders. 

About five hundred of the enemy were slain, 
four hundred made prisoners, and the standard of 
Westphalia taken with five hundred muskets, which 
w^ere distributed amongst the peasantry. Some 
corn, flour, and biscuits Avere found, which were 
given to the troops and people. 

The loss on the part of the Russians did not ex- 



213 

ceed forty men in killed and wounded. The brave 
citizens who led the columns were amongst the 
first to mount the ramparts and one of them was 
wounded. The disaster was happily not mortal ; 
and in recompence for the dangerous duty, he and 
his three brave colleagues each received the military 
medal of the order of St. George. 

On finding the Russian light troops in the neighs 
bourhood of Mojaisk, the enemy conceived appre- 
hensions for the safety of Vereya, and dispatched 
toils garrison a reinforcement of three battalions 
of infantry and four squadrons of cavalry. They 
were seen from the town, about eleven o'clock, at 
a few wersts distance. Before they could perceive 
that all was over with their comrades in that garri- 
son, a reserve of troops (stationed by the Russian 
General without the walls) instantly advanced and 
fell upon them. Their resistance Avas short, but 
while it lasted, so sanguinary that they seemed to 
stand in blood. At length finding perseverance 
would be unavailing, they gave up the contest and 
fled. The dead they left on the field was terrifical- 
ly increased by the swords of the Cossacs and oth- 
er cavalry, which cut down hundreds as they pur- 
sued them to the covering lines of Mojaisk. 

From the movements of the several French di-^ 
visions towards every point connected with any ave-^ 
nue that led to the Dneiper, it was easy to under- 
stand the object to which their leader now bent his 
steps. His purpose was to retrace his march, to 
escape the vengeance of an incensed country, and 
to find himself once more in safety on the frontiers 
of his subject nations. 

From the instant he found all hopes vain of bring- 
ing the empire of Russia to the necessity of solici- 
ting a disgraceful peace, he decided upon retiring 
to that pari of Poland wherehis magazines had been 
prepared, for a very different consummation of his 
campaign than the present retrograde motion. 

Could he accomplish this retreat, which he flat- 



214 

iered himself might be done with comparatively 
trifling loss^ he would remain at the vast entrance 
of the Russian empire, until the return of spring 
should re-open to him her gates. During the inter- 
val his harassed troops would be recovered from 
their fatigues ; he would draw new levies and con- 
tributions from France and the continental states ; 
and, again crossing the frontiers with his host, he 
would fall with interminable fury upon the Russian 
empire, and compel it to acknowledge " a just sense 
of its duty as an European state /" 

It is evident that Ihe Russian people and the 
Ruler of the French, see the " duty" of Russia 
*' as an European state," in two opposite points of 
view. Which is the right one, any honest mind 
can affirm. 

Being reduced to the necessity of putting his 
hard alternative into practice, Buonaparte saw with 
increased vexation the adjacent country so filled 
with his adversaries, that he must take extraordi- 
nary precautions to escape their vigilance. He 
thought it well to divide his army from its spoil ; 
judging by his own soldiers, he seems to have plan- 
ned a bait for the Russian troops in one path, which, 
when they were devouring, would have purchased 
for himself and folloAvers a safe retreat beyond their 
lines. To this end he sent forward on the great 
road to Smolenzk, several hundreds of carts, car- 
riages, and waggons, filled with ammunition and 
plunder, sick and wounded soldiers, and a scanty 
store of provisions and forage. 

While these proceeded on their perilous journey, 
he designed to set forward himself, with the grand 
army, in a parallel direction, taking his course by 
the way of Maloyarraslavitz Medyn, and crossing 
the governments of Smolenzk and MohilofF, he 
hoped to reach Minsk in safety. In that city he 
had provided magazines of all kinds, and in its 
neighbourhood he expected to meet the reinforce' 



215 

merit of Marshal Victor, joined by the remains of 
St. Cyr's division. 

Buonaparte encouraged his army with the assu- 
rance that if they gained Minsk, the country di- 
.verging from it, and along their future march, was 
so prolific, that while they remained on it they 
would scarcely again feel any privations from the 
war. Famished and worn with the calamities they 
had suffered and inflicted, they were eager to press 
towards so desirable a goal ; and to insure a fa- 
vourable issue to these hopes, their leader made 
his first movement in an attempt to deceive Prince 
KoutousofF. He wished to give him an idea that 
the object of the French troops was to pierce the 
main Russian army, to possess themselves of Ka- 
louga, and to winter in the rich provinces around 
it. To make this impression, which was to be the 
operating seal of his great plan, he directed Mural 
to march forward upon the Kalouga road, with a 
formidable division of the army, to attack the Rus- 
sians, and by prolonging the contest, afford time 
for the rest of the troops and their sovereign to gain 
an unmolested retreat. 

Prince KoutousofF v/as too good a master of the 
science of information to be ignorant of this scheme 
of his adversary. He made instant dispositions to 
render it abortive, and accordingly ordered a great 
part of his army to break up their position at Tou- 
ratino, on the 17th of October, and march out 
imder the command of General Baron Benningson. 
Their advance was to be as sudden as unexpected 
by the enemy, and they were to fall upon him a 
Vimproviste near Maloyarralavitz. The Baron and 
his brave troops hastened to the enterprise with an 
ardour answerable to its importance, for they could 
not but see that in proportion to the expectations 
of advantage which Napoleon had founded on tha 
success of his plan, would be his despair on its fail- 
ure. In such a dilemma they perceived no option 



216 

for bis followers but a miserable flight through the 
desolate ways of Wiazma. 

Wiazma, which the Russians looked to as the 
probable temporary asylum of their defeated ene- 
my, was fated to be the field of his severest conteist. 
It is situated on the right bank of the river Louja, 
and stands upon high commanding grounds, at the 
foot of which are extensive woods that stretch to a 
vast plain, beyond which the country becomes, to 
a considerable extent, imeven and intersected with 
ravines and small rivers. 

Benningson having drawn the battalions selected 
for this duty from the chief part of the right wing 
of the main army, they left their lines at seven 
o'clock in the evening of the 17th. His gallant 
corps Avas composed of the second, third, and fourth 
battalions of infantry, ten regiments of Cossacs 
under Count Orloff-Denisoff, the twentieth regi- 
ment of chasseurs, and four other regiments from 
the first division of cavalry under the orders of Ma- 
jor-General Baron Miller-Zakomelsky. 

Tlie whole body moved on in three columns* 
The first, composed of Cossacs under Count Or- 
loif-DenisofF, and seconded by the force under 
General Miller-Zakomelsky, was to form Benning- 
ton's right, and endeavour to turn the left flank of 
the enemy. The second column consisted of a 
body of infantry preceded by a brigade of chas- 
seurs, and four pieces of light artillery ; the rear 
of this column was formed of the divisions of Lieu- 
tenant-^General Baggavout and Major-General 
Count Strogonoff, and supported by a formidable 
train of artillery. The third column was command- 
ed by Count Osterman-Tolstoy, and consisted of 
tlie fourth corps of infantry, with a battery of 
heavy guns. 

These divisions, headed by their Commander, 
soon crossed the Nara, while the rest of the army 
followed their movements, and advanced along the 
great road. The day had not dawned before the 



217 

leading corps had gained the various points whence 
they were to commence their operations. 

When information .was brought to Murat of the 
Unexpected approach of the ilussians, he hastily 
formed in order of battle, and, taking advantage 
of some rising grounds in the rear of a village close 
to his line, he planted it with a heavy battery of 
guns. The body of his army presented a vast front, 
extending its flanks to the extremities of the neigh- 
bouring woods. It consisted of fifty thousand men, 
and was commanded by himself and Beauharnois. 

Previous to the Russian columns presenting them- 
selves to the enemy, the brigade of chasseurs had 
spread themselves upon the plain ; giving time, by 
this manoeuvre, for the light artillery to come up 
and form at some distance from the head of its res- 
tive advancing corps. 

The guns of the centre column were the first to 
open the fire. This was the signal for Count Or- 
loff-Denisoff to lead near the edge of the wood, to- 
wards the enemy's left. Count Osterman-Tolstoy 
at the same moment moved to his left, to join the 
corps of General DochtorofF, which had been pre- 
viously employed in observation in the vicinity of 
Maloyarraslavitz. The centre was led on by the 
gallant Lieutenant-General Baggavout, who form- 
ed on the heights near the town, and covered them 
with cannon. 

The action commenced with a tremendous fire ; 
for some time both sides sustained the shock with 
admirable firmness, but the steady discharge of the 
Russian infantry began to shake the enemy's line, 
and what completed its disorder from his centre to 
his left, was the sudden opening of a battery hasti- 
ly thrown up by the Russians on their left, and 
which added a heavy cross fire to that already pour- 
ed upon the falling enemy. Nearly at this juncture 
Count OrlofT-DenisofT turned the left flank of the 
French and fell upon their rear with great havoc. 
The confusion in this point was very great, and to 



218 

render it decisive he seconded the unremitting fire 
of his musketry, with repeated discharges from the 
whole of his light artillery. . While the dismayed 
nmltitude before him were deserting their ground 
in crowds. General Baron Miiler-Zakomelsky came 
up with his cavalry and Cossacs and completed the 
destruction. 

The success of the right column of the Russians 
was immediately observed by Benningson, and to 
redouble the advantage, he ordered his infantry 
and cavalry to press forward. The dragoons char- 
ged w^ith vehemence, and the resolute infentry bore 
down with a weight that overthrew all opposition. 
The enemy rallied, and made a show of resistance, 
but the attempt was as short as vain, and they w^ere 
driven at the point of the bayonet with dreadful 
slaughter from the field. 

Owing to an unforeseen circumstance Count Os- 
terman-Tolstoy had not been able to form a junc- 
tion with Dochtoroff, but the rest of the Russian 
army appearing in sight, the right of the enemy 
followed the example of his centre and left, and 
precipitately fled before the victors towards Me- 
dyn. 

The l<f>ss of the French in this day's battle 
amouted to two thousand five hundred killed, and 
one thousand taken prisoners. They also lost the 
great standard of honour belonging to the Napole- 
on regiment of cuirasseurs, thirty-eight pieces of 
cannon, forty ammunition waggons, all the baggage 
belonging to the division, an immensity of plunder 
smassed at different times by individuals of the ar- 
my, the carriages of Murat, and other spoil of va- 
rious descriptions. Amongst the slain on the ene- 
my's side were many officers of rank ; one Gene- 
ral named Derie, was piked by a Cossac, and the 
bodies of twelve field-officers were found on the 
field. 

The loss on the part of the Russians was trifling 
in number, not amounting to more than three bun- 



219 

dred killed ; but in that small list they had to la- 
ment the brave General Baggavout, who was struck 
by a cannon-shot at the comiiienccment of the ac- 
tion, and instantly expired. The veteran comman- 
der in tiiis most glorious day, Ihe intrepid Ben- 
ningson, was also wounded by receiving a severe 
<:!ontusion in his leg ; but he would not leave the 
field till he beheld the dauntless perseverance of 
bis heroes crowned wilh victory. 

The force by wdiich it had been achieved was in- 
ferior in numbers to that of the eneujy, but the 
spirit by which they were animated gave a more 
than mortal determination to their courage, and 
the effect was answerable to the inspiration. 

The praise given to the troops for their conduct 
on this day, both by Benningson and Koutousofij 
does not pay a more deserved tribute to the men 
than to the officers, whose discipline and example 
trained them to this glorious proof of the soldier. 
The venerable Field-Marshal thus expresses him- 
self:— 

" The circumstance in this victory that I dwell 
on with the greatest satisfaction is, that all the col- 
umns performed their movements with an order 
and tranquillity, more resembling the calm evolu- 
tions of a field-day than the tumultuous hour of 
battle." 

General Benningson speaks the same language. 

" I cannot sufficiently express my approbation of 
the good order and courage with which the troops 
executed their different movements, and made their 
attacks. Their coolness and intrepidity, as well as 
discipline cannot be excelled. They have covered 
themselves with glory. In justice to the other part 
of the army, which circumstances did not permit to 
join in the action, I must add what is due to them, 
that the commanding disposition wdiich they took 



220 

on the farther extended heights to the left, materi-. 
ally facilitated the brilliant issue of this memorable 
day," 

This defeat of Murat, so unlooked-for by his 
master, was a dreadful omen of the fate that await- 
ed his devoted army. When the news reached Na- 
poleon, he then felt the. pangs of desperation in 
their full force. He found it impossible to deceive 
himself any longer, and he saw how improbable it 
would be much longer to deceive his wretched fol- 
lowers. The moment was come when the bonds by 
which he had linked so many varying interests into 
his were to burst asunder; when, perhaps, the 
thousands he had beguiled into this measureless 
distance from their homes, would turn upon their 
deluder, and wreak their vengeance in his blood. 
These natural suggestions rung a dreadful denunci- 
ation in his ears ; not ten thousand spectres from 
their bloody graves could have been more terrible 
to his soul, than the voice that then spoke within 
him. Not a moment was to be lost. The great 
object he had in view, to open a path to his army 
by misleading Koutousoflf, had been frustrated. 
Instead of his Generals falling unexpectedly on the 
Russian army, KoutousofT's Generals had fallen 
unexpectedly upon his. 

The movement upon Yarralavitz had drawn up- 
on him the whole force of the country, and at a 
moment when he ought to have endeavoured by 
every stratagem he could devise, to have kept the 
Russians in their entrenchments at Touratino, while 
his famished legions were drawing off by degrees, 
and at least getting the start of their enemy. It is 
true, that in such a retreat they would have had 
many thousand squadrons of Cossacs and light 
troops to encounter and to pass ; but still, had he 
directed Murat's force to have moved in a parallel 
direction nearer to the Mojaisk road, the Russian 
main army would not have been m soon aroused. 



221 

and with it the whole Russian people en masse. 
The division was now disconiiiled wilk disgrace, 
which he had hoped would have covered his move- 
ments towards a place of restoration and rest for 
his troops ; and the direful effect of the disaster 
was not merely tarnishing his glory, but compel- 
ling him to take a route that was pregnant with ca- 
lamity to his soldiers and mortification to himself. 
The legions of Russia pressed around him, and he 
was forced to seek a way to the promised winter 
quarters over the desolated waste which his people, 
high in pride and anticipated conquest, had trod 
under foot in their progress to the ancient capital 
of the empire. 

On the 19th of the month, tw^o days after the de- 
feat of Yarralavitz, Napoleon quitted Moscow, 
His troops were more eager to obey than he to give 
the word, that rid the groaning city of its ruthless 
invaders. This once splendid and jocund army 
were now naked and dispirited, with scarcely a 
day's biscuit for each man, or a mouthful of forage 
for the numerous horses. With despair in their 
looks they heard the commands of their Generals 
to move upon Mojaisk, by the ways of Borosk and 
Veraya. Murat and Beauharnois were to attempt 
gaining the same point by Medyn. 

Buonaparte and his share of the troops proceed- 
ed to the proposed rendezvous by the old Kalouga 
road, and halting at Disna, his twenty-sixth bulle- 
tin reports him to have arrived on*the twenty-third 
of the month at Borosk. It is thus expressed :— 

" The head-quarters were at the castle of Troitz- 
koy (near Disna) on the nineteenth, and there re- 
mained all the twentieth. On the twenty-first they 
were at Ignatieffj the twenty-second at Fomin- 
skoy ; and the army having made two Jiank move- 
ments, it arrived on the twenty-third at Borosk." 

After the victory of the 18th, Field-Marshal 



22^ 

Ivoutousoff resumed his position at Touralino, and 
strengthened his advance-guard under Milorado- 
vitch, which was stationed at Tchernichnaya, and 
spread its parties beyond Yoronova. He also dis- 
patched a reinforcement of twenty-five new regi- 
ments of Cossacs, to disperse themselves, under 
the direction of the intrepid PlatofF, throughout 
every part of the country between the late scene of 
action and Mojaisk. 

The enemy felt the full effects of these hostile 
preparations. In his march towards Moloyarrasla- 
vitz, every step he took was marked by the perish- 
ing bodies of his followers, fallen by the grasp of 
famine, or the swords of the flying parties of Rus- 
sian cavalry which infested every village and every 
wood in their path. Koutousoff had no longer to 
stand on the defensive ; his Avhole array was at his 
disposal to follow in any direction the breathless 
retreat of the enemy, and he did not fail to make 
active use of that part of his force which was cal- 
culated to bring back the best account of the fugi- 
tives. He possessed a body of horse that amounted 
to more than forty-five regiments, and great part 
of these he dispatched, with hordes of Bashkirs, 
Tartars, and other irregular troops, to traverse and 
destroy the French troops in every direction. 

Amongst the numerous sanguinary rencontres 
which took place between these warriors of the de- 
sert and the soldiers of Napoleon, a more than or- 
dinary brilliant" affair took place under the brave 
leading of Colonel Prince Koudascheff. He per- 
ceived a strong body of the French approaching, 
and putting himself at the head of about six hun- 
dred Cossacs, he rushed suddenly from a thick 
wood upon the enemy, and charged them with a 
fury that levelled the first ranks with the earth on 
the first assault. It was the advanced guard of Se- 
bastiani, but was taken off its guard. It was, how- 
ever, commanded by a brave officer, and made sev- 
eral bold essays to recover the distinction of its 



223 

name ; but the ovenvhelniing power of the Cossac 
arm was not to be resisted, and nearly the whole of 
the party were put to death. 

This success Avas followed up by the victors with 
an increased ardour for new exploits. They set 
forward, and proceeding some little distance on the 
same road, came in upon a ravine, where they sur- 
prised another detachment from the grand army, 
which appeared as negligent of preparing against 
an attack as its predecessor. The gallant Koudas- 
cheff bore down upon it immediately, and though 
its numerical force more than doubled his, the ene- 
my fell before him as before a mighty wind ; and 
mounting their dead bodies to seize the trophies of 
his victory, he took from the field a park of twelve 
cannon, thirty baggage and ammunition w^aggons, 
and above one hundred and twenty carriages of all 
descriptions, in some of which were the spoils 
which had been gathered by Sebastiani and the of- 
ficers of his division. 

Even the French allow the defeat they suffered 
in this rencontre ; and in two of their bulletins 
wherein they mention it, acknowledge that eight 
hundred men were killed ; but, as if there were a 
principle within them never to speak truth without 
breathing along with it a neutralizing quantity of 
falsehood, they add, (as an excuse for the unmilit- 
ary conduct of their line in permitting a double 
surprise,) that the Russians, pjken they made this 
attack, hroJce an armistice. 

The most awful scene of misery and of blood 
that ever was registered in the annals of the world, 
was now about to open its horrors. JXapoleon mov- 
ed forward like the demon on the pale horse, with 
hunger and pestilence and death in his train ; and 
the myriads of famished human beings who follow- 
ed in the dreadful march, saw before them a vast 
barren track of nearly four hundred wersts, before 
they could hope to reach any sustenance for ex- 



224 

piling nature, any shelter from the vengeful swords 
of their incensed foe. 

Smolenzk was the nearest spot where magazines 
had been prepared. Thither was this devoted 
mass of suffering creatures doomed to drag on their 
exhausted and emaciated frames. The famished 
horses dropped dead beneath the powerless limbs 
of their riders, and the fainting riders threw them- 
selves upon the stiffened bodies of their horses, 
for rest and for death. The wretched survivors, 
embracing hope in the very bosom of despair, lis- 
tened eagerly to the promises of Smolenzk from 
the lips of their commanders; and, without other 
food than the flesh which tliey tore from the wasted 
limbs of their dying cavalry, they pressed on. The 
officers, wiiose information on the subject, render- 
ed fatally piescient, saw with even more dismay 
than their men, the desperation of their circum- 
stances. An enraged enemy hovered upon their 
rear and on their flanks, and the first harbingers of 
a change of season had already made themselves 
be felt: Winter, a Northern Winter, brooded with 
all its horrors over their heads. Neither was Na- 
poleon ignorant of what was suffered, of what must 
yet be endured. British heroes regard their sol- 
diers as the sinews of their strength ; the French 
leader considers his as the machines of his ambi- 
tion, and he treats them accordingly. He saw 
what was before his array in this his enforced re- 
treat from Russia. He would not see any alterna- 
tive that would compromise his dominant pride, 
and, leading forward his victims to their horrible 
fate, he continued to flatter them with hopes, while 
his pitiless heart defied the wants of human nature, 
and set at nousfht the threatening severities of the 
season. 

By the twentieth of October, the whole army^ 
was on its flight, for by no other term can the man- * 
ner of their retreat be truly described. Even while 
the encouraging exhortations of Napoleon, and his 



225 

promises of honours and rewards for their perse- 
vering heroism, were soimding in the ears of his 
deluded and too faithful followers ; even in that 
hour, when they were looking to him as to the (al- 
most) demi-god for whom they had suffered all, and 
from whom they expected protection to the last — 
he resolved to abandon them ! Escape was now his 
object, and taking with him a chosen few, he re- 
peated the scene of EgypU and left his Generals to 
bring on their despairing soldiers in the best way 
they could. 



MuRAT, on retiring from the field of his late de- 
feat, hoped that on reaching Medyn he might be 
able to penetrate a few wersts into the unexhausted 
country in its neighbourhood. But no ; the inde- 
fatigable Cossacs were already there, and the pike 
and the sword shut every avenue against the attemps 
of his most resolute corps. Finding every effort 
vain, to gain relief in that quarter, he and Beau- 
harnois consulted what was next to be done, and 
seeing no resource within their power to satisfy 
the wants of their troops they determined sharing 
the fate of the other divisions of the army, and 
with this vie^v they joined their fugitive comrades 
on the road to Mojaisk. 

On these circumstances being reported to the 
Russian Commander-in-chief, he put his whole army 
in motion, moving its main body towards Wiazma, 
whilst the advance under Miloradovitch should fol- 
low in a parallel direction between him and the 
Mojaisk road. The advance division was fully 
competent to this important service, as it had been 
reinforced with a power that rendered it the com- 
plete half of the army. 

While the main bodies thus moved on, every 
surroundino; track, whether of wood or open ground, 

29 



22G 

swarmed with Cossacs and light troops to harass 
the enemy, and to destroy the bridges in his path. 

To secure the left flank of the main army from 
the chance of being annoyed by parties from Dom- 
brofsky's division at Mohiloff, Koutousoff detach- 
ed Lieutenant-General Shepeleff with a strong 
corps composed of the Kalouga armament, and 
supported by six pieces of cannon, with a party of 
cavalry, besides tiiree regiments of Cossacs. He 
soon executed his orders^ and informed the Com- 
mander-in-chief that his division had taken posses- 
sion of the city of Roslav, that it covered the town 
of Briansk, and that it was moving upon Elnia. 

While General Shepeleff was thus securing the 
country in the neighbourhood of Mohiloff, the gal- 
lant young Count Ogerofsky was dispatched to the 
same quarter at the head of a tine body of regular 
light troops. 

Platoff, whose indefatigable zeal and active valour 
bad been conspicuous from the first of the cam- 
paign, pursued the same animated course in the 
expulsion of a retreating foe, as he had taken in re- 
pelling his advance. Having learnt that a large bo- 
dy of the enemy, together with a considerable con- 
voy, had passed on the night of the 30th through 
the village of Staroy on their way to Mojaisk to- 
wards Smolenzk, he lost not a moment in following 
their track. Near to the monastery of Kolotsk he 
overtook their rear-guard and luggage, which had 
halted close to the heights on which it stands. At 
day -break on the 31st, he ordered tvyo brigades of 
his Cossacs to attack the enemy's left flank. As 
soon as they found themselves thus assailed, they 
showed every disposition rather to retreat than to^ 
engage, and accordingly began to move in a very 
rapid order of march. When the Hetman perceiv- 
ed their intention, he ordered another brigade to 
fall upon their right, whilst he, v/ith a strong divi- 
sion well supported by artillery, would bear down 
upon their rear. A terrible slaughter ensued, but 



227 

several times the French General endeavoured to 
stop his troops during their flying conflict, that 
some steady resistance might be offered. He at- 
tempted in vain. The flanks of his division were 
so pressed by the assailants, and they so heavily 
pushed and galled his rear with their pikes and can- 
non, that he found it impossible to hold his ground 
a moment. Once or twice he endeavoured to take 
advantage of the high ground over which he passed, 
but the activity of his pursuers neither gave him 
time nor opportunity, and at last he was compelled 
to give up the contest, leaving behind him in his 
flight twenty-seven pieces of ordnance and his col- 
ours. In this aflair the French had two battalions 
completely destroyed, hundreds fell by the sabres 
of the Cossacs, and the earth was strewed with dy- 
ing bodies, from the grape of the Russian guns. 
The full amount of the dead could not be ascertain- 
ed, for the nature of the warfare did not allow of 
these calculations i no prisoners were taken, as it 
was a regular system with the Cossacs in their bat- 
tles with the French never to burthen themselves 
with men as prisoners whom they had found exter- 
minating enemies. 

In order to render their retreat less incumbered, 
the wretched fugitives blew up their ammunition 
carts, and set fire to every thing that could impede 
their flight. Five hundred carcases of horses (for 
they seemed more dead than alive,) which had been 
attached to the waggons and artillery, were set 
loose and abandoned to their fate. The following 
day this discomfited division of the rear-guard fell 
in with its companion division at Gridnevo ; the 
main body of the army having reached Ghatz at 
the same time. Sad was the junction to all parties, 
for it brought nothing with it but a communication 
of miseries. In vain did that hope which, Phcenix- 
like, revives from death to death, in the human 
breast, in vain did it support the wretched fugitive 
in his flight with the idea that when he should come 



228 

lip with the mam body some of his miseries would 
be relieved. He arrived, and they were increased 
by the pang of disappointment, by the horror of 
despair. 

Rendered desperate by famine, and the privation 
of every necessary of life, whole regiments left their 
brigades, and forming themselves into bands of 
rapine, spread themselves every where for several 
wersts, to force from the peasantry some share in 
their food and clothes. This track of country, ha- 
ving already felt the evils of wai% afforded very 
trifling resources, but even these were withheld 
from the enemy. The vigilance of the Cossacs 
traced their marauding parties in every direction, 
and hunting them from the Avoods and by-ways, 
compelled them to fly before them towards the 
high road. Hundreds of starving wretches, who 
looked more like animated skeletons than men, 
dropped hourly in their path. The cries of the dy- 
ing, perishing in all the agonies of want, and the 
imprecations of impotent exertion, expiring under 
the sword of the pursuer, were heard in every 
quarter. 

While the parties who had separated themselves 
from the main body of the enemy, thus parted from 
it never to return, the army itself did not suffer 
less from the increasing calamities of its march. 
Its steps were tracked with the wreck of human 
mortality, and the starved horses that attempted to 
drag forward the numerous artillery, fell also be- 
neath their tasks. To prevent the necessity of 
abandoning the guns, whole regiments of cavalry 
were dismounted, that their horses, though not in a 
much better condition, might supply the places of 
those which had perished. 

Early as this might be deemed since the time of 
commencing the retreat, the awful circumstances 
which accompanied every step made the events of 
a few days seem the sufferings of many weeks. 
Two hundred and fifty wersts of desolated country 



229 

were yet between them and Smolenzli, their first, 
depot, and the nearest spot in wliicb they could 
venture to rest. The divisions of Bavoust, Ney, 
Beauharnois, and I\lurat, crowded last upon each 
other, whilst the unceasing attacks of their pursu- 
ers obliged them yet more closely to compact 
themselves in the narrow way left open for their 
passage. 

Platoff, while han2;ing over their ranks, thus de- 
scribes their situation and his own proceedings : 
" The retreat of the French is a flight without ex- 
ample, abandoning every thing that demands car- 
riage, even to their sick and wounded. The traces 
of this fearful career are marked with every species 
of horror. At every step is seen the dying and the 
dead, not merely the fallen in battle, but the vic- 
tims of famine and fatigue. In two days, even in 
sight of my division, their despair has blown up 
one hundred ammunition waggons, while the sud- 
den movement of my troops has caused them to 
leave untouched an almost equal number. We de- 
stroy these fugitives wherever we meet them, and 
when they attempt to make the least stand, the brave 
sons of the Don, assisted by their artillery and the 
chasseurs, soon relieve the empire of hundreds of 
its invaders." 

On the 2d of November the enemy appeared 
near Ghatz in some strength. He presented appa- 
rently full columns of infantry, and of considerable 
depth. He had also left numbers of tirailleurs in 
the wood that skirted each side of the road ; and 
had covered his front with batteries. 

When Platoif perceived this array, he ordered 
ten pieces of Cossac artillery, and a body of chas- 
seurs, to attack the wood on both flanks. The 
woods were quickly cleared of their tirailleurs ; 
and the brigades of Cossacs, with their guns, fell 
vigorously on the enemy's wings. After a combat 
of two hours he gave way ; another charge put him 
to flight ; and, until night checked their reins, the 



230 

victorious Cossacs pursued. Soon as morning 
dawned, they re-comnienced the chase, and ceased 
not till Ihe poor wreck of their adversary came up 
with a strong body commanded by Marshal Davoust, 
and which was hastening towards Wiazma. 

During this pursuit the Cossacs made a prize of 
seventy waggons, and twenty pieces of cannon, 
with several stands of colours ; and the chasseurs 
took some thousand helpless and exhausted pris- 
oners. 

On the same day of the Hetman's success over 
this great division, on the 2d of November, Count 
OrlolF-DenisofF fell in with a vast concourse of the 
enemy. It v/as literally a mob composed of num- 
bers, who had wandered in various directions from 
a hundred regiments, and being hunted in all quar- 
ters by the Cossacs, Vv^ere chased into the great 
road, where they found other sharers in the same 
circumstances of flight and misery. Assembling 
themselves in a body the better to repel the attacks 
of the flying cavalry, they had proceeded only a 
little way when they were descried by the vigilant 
eye of Orlofl-Denisofl*. Vv ithout order or command 
they attempted to repulse his charge, but on the 
iirst onset they fell like unarmed men, so weak was 
their means of resistance, so feeble was their 
strength, and the earth was immediately scattered 
over with their killed and wounded. 

Upwards of one thousand prisoners quietly sub- 
mitted to the victors, and with them were taken 
forty loaded waggons and several officers which be- 
longed to the Commissariat. 

General Miloradovitch, by a movement on his 
right, came fast upon the steps of Orloff'-DenisofF 
and Platoff ; and the heads of his columns present- 
ed themselves close to Wiazma on the morning of 
the third of November. Here the enemy were col- 
lected in great strength ; and wishing to give time, 
if possible, for their part of the army in advance to 
proceed, they made a formidable show of giving 



231 

battle. Marshals Davoust, Ney, and Beaiiharnois 
formed at a small distance from Wiazma. Tiiey 
had not chosen ground the best adapted to exten- 
sive military operations, nor had they been allow- 
ed time even to take advantaoe of the points with- 
in their reach to improve their position. Neither 
order nor discipline seemed to exist amongst the 
numerous ranks ; all was confusion and uproar ; 
and fighting with desperation alone was now their 
only hope of success. 

Miloradovitch soon made his arrangements for 
the attack, which was immediately made on the 
enemy's left flank. The Russian troops fell upon 
their adversaries with a fury which nothing but the 
crudest injuries could have excited ; they were 
met by a resistance full of valour, but it was the 
valour of the soldier's last hour, when he knows that 
he must fall and is resolved to sell his life dearly. 
The contest was very short. A heavy and regular 
discharge from the Russian cannon and musket- 
ry swept down whole lines of the French, and com- 
pelled the rest to give v/ay. The moment was seized 
by their adversaries, who rushed on with the point 
of the bayonet and drove them with unparalleled 
slaughter into the town. The Russian cavalry, 
fresh and unfatigued, charged furiously after the 
retreating columns over heaps of dead and dying; 
while the artillery continued to pour on their devot- 
ed heads myriads of balls and grape, w^ith an exe- 
cution as horrible as it was elFectual. 

Beauharnois fled with his shattered division to- 
wards the road leading to Douchovchina. Davoust 
and Ney took the high road to Dorogobouche ; 
whilst thousands ran, they scarcely knew whither, 
along both banks of the Dneiper. 

Twenty-eight pieces of cannon fell into the Rus- 
sian hands in this affair. The French loss was 
tremendous. Six thousand killed, and three thou- 
sand five hundred taken prisoners ; amongst the lat- 
ter was a general of artillery and his aide-de-camps. 



232 

the quarter-master general of Davoust's division, 
and an immense number of officers of various 
ranks. 

As usual, the pursuit of the enemy only finished 
with the night : and such a night ! In that terrible 
darkness all the horrors of winter seemed at once 
to burst upon them. The snow fell unremittingly 
till it covered the face of the earth, and every ob- 
ject upon it that was not considerably above its sur- 
face. The cold was intolerable, and now it was 
that the loud complaints of human nature, suffer- 
ing under every ill, burst from every lip. Then, 
O Napolepn ! were thy magnificent titles of Con- 
queror, King, and Emperor, forgotten in the general 
accusation bf Tyrant, Betrayer, Murderer ! 

The mornihg broke, and the usual track of their 
march had disappeared. The weltering bodies of 
their companions, the stiffened corpses of them who 
had perished by famine, all were hidden from their 
sight under one wide waste of snow. The cry 
which broke from their hearts at this desolate spec- 
tacle, this whitened world, which shut from their 
emaciated hands every root of the earth, every 
blade of grass for their fainting cattle, was like the 
ciy at the judgment day — all hope was vain, and 
the direst perdition seemed to await them at every 
point. 

Severe as had been their sufferings before, it was 
from this moment that the French army knew by 
experience the utmost stretch of evils that humani- 
ty could bear. It was now that they knew, by ten 
thousand nameless horrors, what was imported in 
the term a 7iorihern winter. Buonaparte had taught 
them to deride its described terrors, and to hold 
them at nought. He had pledged himself that they 
should defy all its powers, by the exertions of his 
care, his foresight, his preparations. They should 
cheer its gloom witli full boards and festivities ; they 
should create a southern sun in its dreary atmos- 
phere, by the glow of victory, and the glory of re- 



233 

nown* Tliis had been the promise ; but what the 
reality? His foresight was, to lead them to des- 
truction ; his care, to abandon them in the severest 
moment of trial ; his preparations to leave them in 
nakedness and want; his full board, the barren 
waste of famine ; his festivals and triumphs, the 
bloody field of retreat and the dishonoured grave ! 



Th)e frost commenced with an intensity uncom- 
inon even in Russia. The wretched fugitives of 
Napoleon were obliged to bivouac upon the naked 
gnow, with no other covering than the drifting sleet 
which drove against their (exposed bodies like the 
piercing points of arrows* In these terrible nights 
of more than mortal cold, they attempted to light 
fires; and round the half-kindled sparks they hud- 
dled together, to participate the vital heat each yet 
contained. But it was so small, that in a few ^im^irs 
many hundreds died, and when morning dawned, 
their surviving comrades beheld them in gha&tly 
circles of death around the glimmering ashes. 

It was hardly in the memory of the oldest person 
in Russia, a winter having set in so early with such 
iron rigour. But the severest Weather neVer found 
a people unprepared which had been educated from 
infancy to endure its annual return, and wer« never 
unprovided with means to repel any extraordinary 
violence. The Emperor and the patriotic spirit of 
his nobles, had abundantly furnished the Russian 
army with provisions and winter clothing ; and 
though out under all the inclemencies of the sea- 
son, they hardly felt its fierceness. 

Not so the French army. The persons who com- 
posed its legions were most of them born under 
more genial suns ; and their constitutions knew no 
habits answerable to the attacks which would be 
made on them in cold climates, and as no fictitious 
means had been prepared of shielding them from 

30 



234 

such inevitable evils, the consequence Could not be 
but fatal. 

Day after day these unhappy men dragged on 
iheir wretched existence. All military ideas were 
thrown aside ; it was no longer an army that was 
retreating, but a multitude of famishing individu- 
als, each seeking his own preservation, and careless 
of all other objects in the world. To speak of dis- 
cipline, or order, was mockery to them. They 
spurned at command so impotent that it could only 
issue its decrees to their perishing ranks. " Give 
us bread," they would cry, " and we will obey you!" 
Officer and private alike contemned every eflfort 
of the Generals to maintain subordination, and the 
visible appearance of an army. They broke away 
in bands like wild beasts howling for their prey ; 
and rushing together, or in desperate solitary at- 
tempts, tore down every obstacle in their path to 
procure food and raiment. Friend and foe were 
assailed ; self-preservation was their sole motive, 
and when no Russian property presented itself for 
plunder they fell upon their ow^n waggons, and pil- 
lacedtheoi of their contents. A horrible destrac- 
tion seized upon thousands, and wherever they mov- 
ed the direst spectacles tracked their steps. Their 
iigures now appeared hardly human ; the faces of 
some were disfigured by the loss of various features 
from the inveteracy of the frost ; others had lost 
their hands or feet, some whole limbs, but even 
these injuries were small, when compared with the 
combination of bodily sufferings (hitherto unknown 
in the annals of the world) Avhich fell upon many, 
and produced diseases for which there is yet no 
name. The most horrible Golgotha of human vic- 
tims sacrificed to the Molochs of India, could not 
be more fraught with the wrecks of mortality, than 
this road of death. Here perished man put on 
every shape of horror, and vast and deep w^ere the 
heaps of his remains. Some lay in enviable rest -, 
but history will have the abhorrent fact to relate^ 



235 

4. 

that many were the mangled bodies lorn by the 
hands of their maddened comrades, who, wrought 
to frenzy by the pangs of unappeased hunger, seiz- 
ed on the limbs of the dead, and devoured the loath- 
some flesh with the appetites of cannibals. 

Such were the effects on the most violent spirits 
amongst these wretched men ; but those of a more 
temperate nature, bore the miseries of want and 
cold with a stern despair, until the weakness of 
their frames not allowing them to contend with the 
influence of the frost, a frightful drowsiness seized 
on all their faculties. Thousands in this state sunk 
into the hands of their conquerors ; without speech, 
deprived of every sense, and almost motionless, 
they ceased to live even before they ceased to 
breathe. 

The phials of wrath seemed to pour all their fu- 
ry on the devoted heads of Napoleon's army. It 
was a scene that must make the most infidel mind 
pause to meditate ; it was a scene to wring with 
agony the most obdurate heart. Bitter then was 
the cup of misery which man drank to the dregs. 

As man brought himself by his own will into the 
way of these evils, it seems but just that he should 
be the longest afflicted. The poor animals which 
the French army had made the companions of their 
invasion, also suffered, but death sooner relieved 
them from their pangs. In every part of the re- 
treat it was observed that although the men had all 
the miseries which reason, in such a situation, must 
add to those of the body, to contend with, yet 
their animals more immediately felt the fatal effects 
of the season. Each day and night the horses died 
by hundreds. These poor creatures had long been 
without forage, and the fatigue they endured had 
quite exhausted them even before the winter set in ; 
but when that put the last stroke to the rrljfsery of 
the French army, no care was taken to shoe the 
animals for their icy march, and the consequence 
was injurious to their feet which nothing could cure. 



236 

and a weakness of limbs which debilitated the crea- 
ture to an excess that rendered him almost useless. 
To remedy this, what the enfeebled strength of a 
few could not do, many were brought to accomplish ; 
thus, instead of the usual complement of horses to 
draw a heavy piece of artillery or a waggon, twelye, 
fourteen, and often twenty, were put to the task. 
But even this with addition, should they arrive at a 
rising ground up which the load was to be drawn, 
it became an insurmountable barrier, and guns and 
waggons Avere abandoned. The cavalry, (all ex- 
cepting the cavalry of the guards,) were hourly 
dismounted to assist with their horses in these often 
vain attempts to save their artillery and baggage^- 
Sometimes to preserve the horses, the baggage wa^ 
left, and frequently both were lost together ; the 
horses sinking at once under the unequal labour, 
and the abandoned waggons seized in the sight of 
their owners by the hovering Cossacs. 

The grand army of Russia, continuing its march 
by cross roads, kept in a parallel line with the re- 
treat of the enemy. General Miloradovitch ceas- 
ed not to press upon their left flank, while he pro- 
ceeded with Platoff and his clouds of the Don, 
which, with a fiercer fire than ever shot from the 
Boreal-Morn, hung on the corps of Beuabarnios. 
The passage of the Dneiper at Uorogobouche, had 
been anticipated by the Russians ; and a strong 
corps from the main army was fast approaching to 
increase the enemy's difficulties in attempting to 
cross it. 

Every arm, in this awful moment, was raised to 
rid the empire of its invaders, and to hurl a direful 
retribution on their heads. The great, the aged 
Koutousoff, rested neither day nor night, but ex- 
posed himself at all hours, and under every inclem- 
ency of »tbe season, to watch the progress of the 
enemy's flight ; to share anxiety and fatigue with 
the youngest and most active of his soldiers. While 
he shared in their toil and in their glory, he forgot 



237 

tiie merits of his own anlmatlno; example, and lhu«> 
unequivocally demands the gratitude of posterity 
for the men he led to conquest. 

** The Cossacs perform miracles of bravery. 
They not only destroy whole columns of the ene- 
my's infantry ; but fall with undaunted resolution 
upon his flaming artillery. They destroy all that 
opposes them. Indeed the same spirit animates 
the whole of the Russian army." 

On the 7th November, General PlatoflT, at the 
head of his band of warriors, passed swiftly along 
the right side of the road leading to Dorogobouche. 
His pursuit was Beauharnois, and to post his Cos- 
sacs in situations to prevent the marauding parties 
of the fugitives from destroying the villages which 
had yet escaped the ravages of war. As he came 
down upon the way which leads from Dorogobouche 
to Douchovochina, not far from the village of Ze- 
selia, he fell in with a division of Beauharnois. 

The gallant chief of the Cossacs, even on the in- 
stant of rencontre, threw his followers into order 
of attack which he could do to advantage, as 
the enemy had taken a very open position. He 
directed both flanks of his opponent to be as- 
saulted at the same time, while he with a chosen 
squadron would bear down upon the centre. Vic- 
tory now seemed to sit upon his helm. The ene- 
my's right and left were turned, and the centre, not 
able to stand the united charge of chasseurs, artil- 
lery, and Cossacs, gave way in every direction ; 
some fled, but many fell, dyeing the pale snow with 
torrents of human blood. Discomflted at every 
point, this once formidable division separated from 
before the swords of their victors, one party flying 
towards Douchovochina, and the other taking wing 
to Smolenzk. PlatofF despatched a strong corps in 
pursuit of the latter, while he himself followed the 
former, (at whose head was Beauharnois,) with a 



238 

body of troops determined to seize or pursue its 
commander to the verge of the empire. 

The gallant train came up with the object of 
their chase the next day near to the banks of the 
Vope. The atmosphere was darkened by a thickly- 
falling snow, but darkness and light were the same 
to the zeal of the Cossac, the blaze of his own ar- 
dour was sufficient, and the battle was renewed. 
Beauharnois made a firmer resistance than before ; 
his soldiers received the charge of the Russians with 
a furious recoil, and the combat raged for a little 
time with a grappling kind of courage. But it was 
not the courage of military order ; the voice of 
command was not heard ; all was the result of indi- 
vidual feeling, at one moment cutting down his ad- 
versary, and in the next, hurried on by frantic des- 
pair precipitating himself upon the pointed weapons 
of the Cossacs. 

Upwards of fifteen hundred of the enemy were 
killed during the attacks of these two days ; and 
three thousand five hundred taken prisoners. A- 
mongst the latter were General Sanson, many chiefs 
of regiments, and rnore than one hundred officers 
of inferior ranks. The spoil were sixty-two pieces 
of cannon, several standards, baggage, &c. &;c. 

Platoff, having destroyed nearly the whole of 
Beauharnois' division, moved down upon Doucho- 
vochina to finish its destruction, and then dispatch- 
ed eight regiments of Cossacs to strengthen those 
already sent towards Smolenzk. His intentions 
were to follow these successes by proceeding on 
the great road beyond Selobpneva, and then turn- 
ing on the heads of the enemy's advancing columns, 
cut them off in van and rear. 

A short time after this affair, some of Ihe Rus- 
sian parties intercepted a French courier with let- 
ters from the defeated division, to that at Smolenzk, 
Two are here subjoined from Beauharnois, and 
they will give no "faiot. impressions of his own idea 



239 

of the sufferings of the unhappy wretches under 
liis command. 



Letter from the mccroy of Italy to the Prince of 
Neufchatel, dated from the village of Zeselia, No- 
vember 1th, 1812. 

" I have the honour to inform your Highness that 
i put myself in motion at four o'clock this morn- 
ing, but the badness of the roads, and severity of 
the frost opposed so many obstacles to the march 
of my division, that our van only was able to reach 
this place by six in the evening, the rear taking up 
a position nearly two leagues behind. 

" At five in the morning, the enemy appeared on 
our right, attacking at the same instant our van, 
our centre and our rear, with artillery, Cossacs, and 
dragoons. At the head he found an opening of 
which he took immediate advantage, and charging 
with a loud houra ! made a prize of two pieces of 
regimental cannon which had been stopped by a 
steep acclivity at some distance from their escorts. 
The 9th regiment, ran to cover them, but they had 
been already carried off. 

" On the real -guard the enemy opened a fire from 
four guns, and General Ornano believes that he saw 
infantry upon every other point with two pieces of 
cannon each, but he does not assert it as a positive 
fact. 

" Your Highness must allow that my situation is 
extremely critical ; embarrassed as I am by the 
quantity of baggage with which I have been forced 
to encumber myself, and by a long train of artille- 
ry of which, without exaggeration, four hundred 
horses have died this day. Nevertheless I shall con- 
tinue my march by dawn to-morrow with the inten- 
tion of reaching Polloggi, where I shall endeavour 
to o;ain that information which must determine 



240 

whether 1 shall proceed to Douchovochma or id 
Pneva. 

" I will not conceal from your Highness (hat af- 
ter making every exertion to cjM:ry forward the ar- 
tillery, I am at last under the^ecessity of aban^ 
doning so fruitless an attempt. In our present sit- 
uation we must be prepared to make great sacrifi- 
ces, and this very day several guns have been 
spiked and buried. 

" I have the honour, &;c." 

Jjctter from the Viceroy of Italy to the Prince of 
Neufchatel., dated November Sthy 1812, at the 
passage of the Vope. 

'' I enclose to your Highness a letter which, 
though written by me yesterday, failed of reaching 
you ; the officer who was to have delivered it hav- 
ing been led astray by his guide. 

" Your Highness will be surprised to find me yet 
upon the Vope ; I have not however been the less 
active in quitting Zeselia by five this morning, but 
the road is so cut with ravines that it required near- 
ly miraculous efforts to reach even thus far. It is 
with the most painful feelings that I discover the ne^ 
cessity I am under of confessing to your Highness 
the great sacrifices we have made to expedite our 
march. These three days only, have cost us two- 
Ihhds of our artillery, and of the troops, four hun- 
dred horses died yesterday, and to-day we have 
lost double tliat number, not including any of those 
I was obliged to procure for the baggage waggons 
and other carriages. Whole trains perished nearly 
at the same instant, several of which had been three 
times renewed. 

"To-day this division of the army has not been 
disturbed in its march. Some thought they per- 
ceived Cossacs without artillery, but that circum- 
stance not being usual, it may be a mistake. If the 
report of one of the I'olligeurs, who was sent out 



241 

on a marauding party, may be believed, he was 
followed by a colamn of infantry and artillery ta- 
king" the same direction with ourselves. 

" To-night I send a strong rcconnoisance upon 
Douchovochina, which place I expect to reach to- 
morrow, provided the enemy does not oppose a se- 
rious resistance to my march ; for I must not con- 
ccal from your Highness that the sulFerings of these 
tlu-ee last days have so completely depressed the 
spirit of the soldiery, that I fear they are at this 
moment incapable of making any sort of exertion. 
Many of the troops are dead from famine and from 
cold ; and others, in despair, have suffered them- 
selves to be taken by the enemy. 

" I have the honour, &c.*' 

By njoving upon Douchovochina, Beauharnois 
cut off the communication between him and the 
greater body of the French army, and his taking 
Buch a route can only be accounted for in his anxiety 
to find some subsistence for his famished people. 
Could this be accomplished he might have a hope 
of gaining Yitepsk, and joining the remnant of his 
division v^illi the forces of Victor and Oudinot, 
who were supposed to be then in that neighbour- 
hood. 

Wliatever might have been his future object, the 
njeans to reach it were destroyed by the Cossacs. 
They never checked the career of their pursuit, 
till they chased the Viceroy of Italy and his stall' to 
the gates of Smolenzk ; and saw the poor wretches 
who had formed the last fragment of his division, 
dispersing themselves for shelter in every direction, 
flying to the woods and over the trackless snows," 
where they perished to a man. * 

There was not one of the Generals of Napoleon 
who did not openly or secretly condemn their lead- 
er for persisting in leaving Moscow with so im- 
mense a train of artillery. The delay it occasion- 
ed in their retreat, and the vast consumption of 

ai 



242 . 

cattle it occasioned to trans|)ort it along, was one 
great cause of the future calamities of the army. 
Time, infinitely valuable at this crisis, was worse 
than lost. The various impediments which lay in 
,the w^ay of these heavy appendages of flight, stole 
away the hours and days in attempting to surmount 
them ; thousands of horses, taken from the riders 
too enfeebled to bear the toil of walking, perished 
in the harness of the guns ; and the guns themselves 
Avere at last abandoned ! But not till the delay 
they had occasioned had sealed the fate of the army : 
— it was overtaken by the Winter of the North ! 

At this moment when his dismounted and faint- 
ing troops were left to the mercy of their pursuers^ 
he affects thus to remark on their situation : " the 
enemy, who saw on the road the traces of the ca- 
lamity which had befallen the army, hastened to 
take advantage of its misfortune. He surrounded 
every column with €ossacs, who, like the Arabs 
of the desert, carried off" the trains and carriages 
which were separated from us. Such are the acts 
of this despicable cavalry, which make a noise, 
but are not capable of equalling in speed a company 
of voltigeurs. They are formidable by the favour 
of circumstances alone." 

All the hopes and false calculations of Buona- 
parte relative to the conquest of Russia, have been 
dissipated in endeavouring to realize them. Never 
was contempt of the character and resources of a 
nation more deeply rooted in the breast of man, 
than was the French Ruler's contempt of this em- 
pire. Never since nations existed has there been 
manifested so imanimous a patriotism, and with that 
patriotism a succession of resources equal to every 
exigency of the time. The calamities of the invar 
sion instead of damping the ardour of the people, 
drew forth in tenfold strength their courage and 
incalculable powers of war. And while Napoleon 
proclaimed to the world that he went to separate a 
race of slaves from their tyrants, be only made it 



243 

apparent that in the empire of Russia still exists 
the polity of the patriarchal ages. Tliere may be 
found the hereditary bond and the free : a circle of 
allodial princes, and their tenants who, born on 
the lands and of a line of ancestors coeval with the 
pedigree of their lords are rather the sons than the 
slaves of the soil. When Englishmen, in general, 
speak of northern vassalage, it is evident they con- 
sider it in the same point of view that they did the 
slavery in the West Indies. But no two states can 
possess more distinct lines of difference. The 
bonds of the Russian peasant are the same with 
those which bound the Chaldean shepherd ; the ser- 
vitude of the negro in the West Indies, was the 
slavery of a Spartan helot. As there is a progress 
in civilization, and every nation cannot be prepar- 
ed to share at the same moment the privileges of 
other nations, it is as illiberal as absurd to contemn 
all people who are not elevated to the same pitch of 
political consequence we are ourselves. Solon 
gave to the Athenians, not the best possible code of 
laws, but the best they Avould bear. Such is ever 
the conduct of wisdom. Nations are like children. 
They are not set at perfect liberty till education 
had made them a law to themselves. The Russian 
Sovereign and his princes are not ignorant of this 
ordinance of nature. The circumstances of the 
French invasion have called forth the characters of 
the people. The high and the low are made sensi- 
ble of their relative duties to the common weal : 
they are acquainted with their own powers ; they 
are aware of each others virtues :— and the conse- 
quences are obvious. Alexander is the Father of 
his Empire ! and the Russian nation must become 
as great in internal policy, as it is now renowned 
for loyalty and arms. 



244 

CotTKt Ogekofsky continued to moTe tov^^ards 
the country in the direction of Krasnoy, while 
Lieutenant-Generai Schepeleflf, after reconnoitering 
and clearing all in his front, moved on his right to 
Elnia. He found a strong body of the enemy in 
that city, but he did not allow theoi to remain 
there : in a few hours they were completely driven 
from the place and its neighbourhood. 

Miloradovitch, with the advanced guard of the 
great army, pushed on through Semlevo towards 
Dorogobouche. On the 7th of ?^ovember he dis- 
covered the enemy constructing an additional bridge 
over the Dneiper. That river intersects the great 
road in two different places about eight v»'ersts from 
Dorogobouche. The most considerable part of 
the French army, with its guns and baggage, had 
already gained the immediate vicinity of that city. 
This detachment was therefore wholly improtected ; 
and Miloradovitch gave instant orders that it should 
be attacked. Beins: struck with terror at the unex- 
pected charge, the men M'ho composed it scarcely 
offered any resistance, but fell in heaps under the 
Russian sabre, or plunged for refuge into the river 
where they were drowned. This impediment de- 
stroyed, Miloradovitch passed the whole of his 
forces over, and proceeded towards the town. 

The French army on arriving there, had taken 
up an advantageous position ; but, like most of 
their late efforts, it was of no avail. The Russian 
General dispatched a strong division to turn their 
left flank, their right being secured by the Dneiper. 
The combat was supported on both sides with the 
spirit of good soldiers. It was desperate on the 
part of the French, and determined on that of 
Russia. Two hours, however, put an end to the 
contest, and the enemy followed his fate of flying 
from ihe field. During the flight upv»'ards of fifty 
ammunition waggons were blown up, and a vast 
number of guns thrown into the river. Several 
fell into the hands of the Russians, with about a 



245 

thousand prisoners ; and when tbe victors had re- 
connoitered what had been the position of their ad- 
versary, they found it one line of dead and dying; 
the snow was blackened with their bodies ; and eve- 
ry where around, the foot of man or liorse could 
not step witliout trampling on tbe wrecks of human 
nature, destroyed by tiie sword, or cold, or famine. 
Count Orlofi-Denizoff moved his force in a par- 
allel direction between the great army and that of 
Miloradovitch ; and during his mardi very success- 
fully continued his exertions against the enemy, 
destroying their men, and binning their waggons. 
This gallant division had been greatly increased by 
numbers of organized peasantry, and seveial noble 
partizans who assisted the general in his glorious 
toils. When he reached the villages of Kolpitka 
and Doubasichi, which are not far from Dorogo- 
bouche, he learnt that the enemy to the amount of 
nine thousand men, under the command of Brig- 
ade-General Augereau, were divided amongst the *; 
villages of Yazvine, Liachovo, and Dolgomostia.*'^ 
On receiving this information, (it vras on the llth" *" 
of November,) he pushed on with his whole force. 
Liachovo was the first object, and was attacked by 
the artillery under the orders of Captain Figner, 
an officer Avho, throughout the W'hole of this desola- 
ting war, gave unceasing proofs of courage and mil- 
itary skill. The enemy made an attempt to form 
on some rising ground on the right of the village, 
but the Russian shot rolling in upon their ranks 
and marking them W'ith horrid chasms, they deem- 
ed it prudent to retire again to the pro sect ion 
of the houses. Coimt Orloff-DenizofF, with his 
troops, immediately surrounded the place. The 
French Commander, seeing the inevitable conse- 
quences of his situation, did not hesitate, but lay- 
ing down his arms, offered to capitulate. This di- 
vision, all taken prisoners, consisted of two thousand 
men, and sixty officers, including their General. 
The detachment, w^hich occupied Dolgomastia, find- 



246 

ing that Augereau was attacked, dispatched a corps 
of cavalry to his support. These were met, char- 
ged and destroyed, nearly at the very moment in 
which their General and brethren-in-ai'ms surren- 
dered. 

This was the first example of such a capitula- 
tion since the enemy's retiring from Moscow. 

Next day, the victorious Count scoured the rest 
of the villages of their hostile jn mates. On his ap- 
proach to Prenninia he learnt that a large convoy of 
provisions, cattle, horses, and other necessaries for 
the French army accumulating at Smolenzk, was 
on its way from MohilofF, under the guard of strong 
detachments of artillery, cavalry, and infantry, the 
whole amounting to six thousand men. His infor- 
mation v/as so good, and his own movements so 
judicious, that he fell on all parts of this immense 
cavalcade almost in one instant of time, and his di- 
visions closing in upon them, the whole was made 
his prize. One thousand five hundred of the ene- 
my were killed, thirteen hundred were made pri- 
soners, and four hundred waggons laden with bis- 
cuit, brandy, and wine were taken. Also two 
hundred head of cattle, and one thousand horses 
destined for the guns. Such was the report which 
the fugitive survivors of the action attempted to 
carry to Smolenzk ; but the freezing blast and the 
shapeless drift destroyed what the sword had spar- 
ed, and there was none to tell of a loss so terrible 
to an army whose wants rendered the smallest as- 
sistance invaluable. 

Prince KoutousofF kept pace with the corps on 
his right, fixing his head-quarters at Elnia on the 
7th of November, and on the 13th at Lobkovo. 

Buonaparte and his chosen band, having tracked 
their way over deserts lost in snow, at last came up 
with the relics of his once fine army at Smolenzk, 
and established his head-quarters there on the 9th 
of November. - At the moment of his entrance into 
that city he was in perfect ignorance of the relative 



247 

Biiuations of the several great divisions of the Rus- 
sian army. His flio;ht to this point had been prose- 
cuted under circumstances of such speed and 
alarm that he had not had the power of sending out 
parties of reconnoisance to any distance. Howev- 
er, he flattered himself, fiom the rapidity with 
which he had moved, that he must now be conside- 
rably in advance of the enemy, and might reach 
Minsk before Admiral Tchitchagoif could ap- 
proach it from Yolhynia. 

The division of Marshal Ney, (which now 
amounted to no more than fifteen thousand men,) 
was yet a full day's march in the rear of the main 
body, and it was to be considered as its rear guard. 
Necessary as his advance might be, his utmost en- 
deavours could not make more than a very slow 
progress ; for the Cossacs and light troops of the 
Russian advanced guard fell on him at every point, 
and it may literally be said he purchased every step 
forward with the blood of some of his people. In 
one of his rencontres with the imperial troops he 
lost nine hundred and eighty men, twenty-two pieces 
of cannon, and sixty ammunition vraggons. 

In fact, the numbers who perished of the French 
army from the day of its evacuating Moscow, to 
that of its entrance into Smolenzk, are incredible. 
It exceeded one hundred thousand men when it left 
the gates of the ancient capital, and at Smolenzk 
sLvti/ thousand could with difiiculty be mustered, 
and even the greatest mmibers of them w^ere hard- 
ly able to bear arms. Though too enfeebled by 
want and fatigue to contend with any effect against 
their armed enemies, they were still only too prompt 
to obey the cruel orders of their leader to avenge 
their defeats and their miseries upon the last re- 
mains of the native inhabitants of Smolenzk. Ever 
since this wretched city fell into the possession of 
the French it had exhibited one uninterrupted scene 
of tyranny. The authorities instituted by Buona- 
parte, had exerted their powers of aggression botb 



248 

upon the town and the adjoioino; country with eve-- 
rj act of avidity and ferocious violence. Amongst 
the many loyal Russians whose blood was daily of- 
fered by these monsters of cruelty to the ambition 
of their master, was the brave Colonel Engelhart. 
He was a private gentleman of Smolenzlc, and on 
the entrance of the French into that government, 
he resolutely remained in his village, defending it 
against the rapacity of the enemy. Various par- 
ties were ordered out to destroy him and his little 
fortress together, but his courage was more than 
numbers, and many of the brigands fell by his own 
intrepid hand. But, shame to add, at last one 
wretch was found who could be persuaded to act 
the traitor, and Engelhart was betrayed into the 
power of his enemies. The joy they manifested at 
the sight of their captive fully testified the merit of 
his opposition, and when he was interrogated on 
his conduct by his French judges, he answered in 
the simple language of virtue : 

" I have only done my duty as a Russian subject. 
The obligation of opposing them who would dis- 
turb the peace of our legitimate sovereign, and de- 
stroy our country, is imposed by the Bivine Law 
upon us all : and I have nothing to regret, but that 
I am restrained by these fetters from dying in the 
act of inflicting vengeance upon our invaders." 

It was thus that the noble Engelhart declared the 
principles of his heroic heart before the tribunal of 
his enemies. He listened calmly to the sentence of 
death which they passed upon him. He returned 
to his prison in chains, through ^he streets of Smo- 
ienzk ; and re-entering his dungeon with the mild 
dignity of virtue, there made his last testament of 
affection to those he loved, and of firm defiance to 
the oppressors of his country. At the place of ex- 
ecution he pointed out to the French their error in 
Ibelieving that Ihey could, ever enslave Russia ; he 



249 

predicted the destruction of her invaders, and 
thanked heaven that even his murder would prove 
a service to the empire. 

Death had so few terrors for him who had been 
conducted to the scafibld by his virtues, that, when 
the executioners would have blindfolded him, he 
removed the bandage, and fixing his intrepid eyes 
upon the muskets which were levelled at him, made 
the sign of the holy cross upon his bosom. He fell 
a soldier of Christ, he fell a noble sacrifice to his 
duty as a subject and a man. 

Very few were the days that the French army, 
beaten by the tempest raised by their crimes and 
the elements, remained at Smolenzkj but those 
few days were marked with every horror the most 
wanton cruelty could inflict. It was the reign of 
violence. Maddened by privation, and infuriate 
with every vengeful passion, the tide of rapine knew 
no bounds ; blood flowed in every quarter, and the 
unrestrained swords of these famished bands even 
went so far as-to attack the guards of their own 
stores, to pillage the contents ; and in phrenzied. 
intoxication, to consume by fire what they had not 
strength to bear away. Indeed the disorder amongst 
the troops rose to such a pitch that no common 
measures could bring it into any rule. The oflScers 
were set at defiance, and while any sustenance 
could be rifled from the magazines, the men despis- 
ed subordination, and rioted in all the excesses of 
mutiny and desperation. It was the bold despair of 
the seamen, who, seeing their vessel must founder, 
break into the ship-stores, and sink inebriated into 
their watery grave. There was ruin in every mo- 
ment of this system being endured ; and to check it 
at last, by changing the object of their avidity, 
Buonaparte gave orders that his disorganized peo- 
ple should be marched from the town towards the 
abundant granaries he had provided in Poland. 

The last tragic act of fire and devastation that 
was to be performed in Smolenzk, was left to the 



250 

direction of Marshal Davoust, and to be executed 
by those of his division who had happened to suf* 
fer the least under the late fatigues and privations. 
The orders to this effect were transmitted to him 
hj Berthier, at the command of their August Dic- 
tator, and they may be found in the following in* 
tercepted letter : 



The Prhice of NeufcJiatd io the Prince of McknmhL 

" PRINCE d'eCKMUHL, 

" It is the Emperor's command, that you support 
the Buke d'Elchiugen in the retreat of his rear- 
guard. The Viceroy goes to-morrow to Krasnoy : 
you will be careful, therefore, to occupy and re- 
lieve such posts as may be necessary for the securi- 
ty of the Viceroy's advance. The intention of 
his Majesty is, that your corps and that of the Duke 
d'Elchingen should fold themselves back upon 
Krasnoy ; and this movement must be made on the 
16lh or 17tk 

" General Charpentier, with his garrison, con- 
sisting of two-thirds of the Polish battalions, and 
one regiment of cavalry, will quit the city with the 
rear-guard. 

" Previous to the evacuation of the town you 
must blow up the fortifications around Smolenzk, 
by setting fire to the mines already prepared ; you 
must personally superintend the burning of the am- 
munition, magazines, and the artillery waggons, as 
well as of the muskets. In short, every thing that 
cannot be carried off, must be destroyed. Such of 
the cannon as you are unable to remove, must be 
sawn asunder and buried. The Generals Chasse- 
Jopp and Laribaissiere, remain here, to execute 
their share in the foregoing dispositions. You will 
be particular. Monsieur le Marechal, to order out 
patroles, for the purpose of preventing stragglers, 
and you will take measures for the removal of the 



2r>i 

sick, so that as few as possible may be left in the 
hospitals. 

(Signed) " Alexander , Ike Prince of Ncufchatd, 

'■' Major-GmeralJ'' 
Smolenzk, the — Nov. \ 7 in the inorninEf. 



2 O. S.J 

:, the — Nov. > 7 i 

14 K. S.) 



The orders of Napoleon were still held in re- 
spect by his Generals, and with regard to the ruin 
in Smolenzk they were strictly obeyed. The com- 
mand was devastation! and even the most mutinous 
soldier fell into the line that was to do the work. 
Use had made destruction a habit of their minds, 
and in the present case it was augmented to enjoy- 
ment, by making it an act of revenge. The mines 
were filled with upwards of eight hundred immense 
cases of combustibles. The city was fired in every 
quarter at once, and, as soon as the last ranks of 
the grand army filed out of it, the signal brand was 
thrown and the explosion took place. The raging 
of the flames, the thundering of the bursting mines, 
and the tremendous fragments of stone and wood 
that were hurled into the air, and fell back in blaz- 
ing ruin, created the appearance of a volcano iu 
the midst of the wintry desert. And beneath this 
burning shower, and wrapped in clouds of smoke, 
Davoust issued from the falling suburbs of the city, 
to join his master, who had departed on the iStb for 
Krasnoy. 

Napoleon, as usual, had chosen his companions, 
taking with him his guards only, who, indeed, were 
the only troops who now aflected any zealous at- 
tachment to his person, or maintained discipline 
amongst their ranks. 

The Grand Russian army, by continuing to ap- 
proach the city of Krasnoy, greatly increased the 
effects of General Miloradov itch's movements upon 
the enemy's rear. That excellent officer having 



252- 

approached Liaghovo, by a movement on his left, 
pushed on to the villages in the vicinity of Krasnoy, 
in consequence of his finding that the chief part of 
Beauharnois' corps had been destroyed ; that Pla- 
tofF was following the rest in the directions of Dou- 
chovochina and Smolenzls ; and that Ney was also 
flying for refuge to the latter place. The whole 
Russian corps to a man participated in the zeal of 
their General, and they marched eagerly on, hop- 
ing to intercept some of the enemy's columns be- 
fore they could quit Smolenzk. 

The great body of the Russian forces, now mov- 
ing in a concentrated form, under the command of 
so consummate a General as KoutousofT, awakened 
an universal expectation in the coimtry that the de- 
cisive stroke on the Invader and his army was soon 
to fall. 

The light troops and parties under the Counts 
Ogorofsky, Osterman-Tolstoy, and OrlofF-Denizoff, 
were hourly destroying or taking prisoners the 
French detachments in their retreat from Smolenzk. 

Buonaparte had arrived safe at Krasnoy, but be- 
ing now well aware that his pursuers were much 
nearer than he either wished or expected, he await- 
ed with the greatest anxiety the coming up of Mar- 
shal Davoust. However, to provide against acci- 
dents, he made the best dispositions for his troops 
that the city and its environs would admit, taking 
some advantageous stations in the village of Do- 
broe and on the Orcha road to secure his escape in 
a case of extremity. 

On the 17th of November, Miloradovitch mask- 
ed his advance with the village of Merlino and the 
imeven grounds in its neighbourhood, in order to 
allow the troops of Davoust (which were then pro- 
ceeding towards Krasnoy) to pass his line. This 
done, he would attack their rear, whilst their left 
flank should meet a similar greeting from their 
corps and second division of cuirassiers under Gen- 
eral Prince Galitzen. At the same time, three strong 



253 

divisions of infantry and artillery, with detadimenis 
from the corps of Ogorofbliy and Borosdin, sup- 
ported by eight regiments of Co^sacs and chasseurs, 
shoidd pass tlirough the villages of Soiikovo and 
Sorokino, towards Dobroe, to cut ofi' the flight of 
the enemy by that route. 

Davoust, though always expecting annoyance, 
moved forward without any idea that the enemy 
menaced him with such a force. Unconsciously he 
passed through their deep, and to him invisible de- 
iiles near Merlino ; and, marchingon v/ilh feelings 
almost of security, he had just gained the village 
of Koutovo, about three wersts from Krasnoy, 
when he was confounded by finding himself assail- 
ed at once, in flank and rear, as if by an army ris- 
en out of the earth. Fearing that he should be to- 
tally encircled, he halted to form and prepare for a 
battle ; but the hot and heavy fire of the Russian 
jnusketry and guns pressed his people so close up- 
on each other, and the groimd on which they stood 
was so unfavourable, that in endeavouring to pro- 
duce order, and to force his men into some shape 
of defence, he only redoubled their confusion. 
Miloradovitch gave them no time to recover from 
their first dismay, but ordering his men forward 
they precipitated themselves upon their foes with 
uplifted sabres, and the bristling points of countless 
bayonets. These relentless weapons soon gave a 
movement to the enemy, but it was to fly. 

The Great Napoleon, from amidst his guards, wit- 
nessed the commencement of this terrific route ; 
but, not waiting to behold its issue, he turned his 
horse and fled at full gallop with his suite towards 
the town of Laidy. Thus did he abandon a divis- 
ion of his army, to which he had hitherto affixed so 
much consequence, and leave to the fury of an in- 
censed enemy a Field-Marshal whom he had always 
aflected to regard with peculiar esteem. 

The complete destruction of the whole corps of 
Davoust succeeded to the acclaim of victory from 



254 

the Russian lines. The cries of his deserted and 
dying soldiers must have followed the flying steps 
of Napoleon, as he vanished from the field. He 
was deaf to the appeal, and ^^as seen no raoi^e. 
The wretched creatures, who escaped the swords 
of their conquerors, sought shelter in the neigh- 
bouring woods which skirt the Dneiper, for an ex- 
tent of five wersts. There these desolate beings, 
wounded, starving and naked, laid them down un- 
der the frozen thickets, and soon forgot the deser- 
tion of their leader and their own miseries in the 
sleep of death. 

It is impossible to pass over the shameful flight 
of Buonaparte from the field of Krasnoy, and to 
v;itness the apathy with which he abandoned this 
division in its extremity, without feeling some touch 
of the old-fashioned idea, that hereditary sovereigns 
have an inherent paternal love for their people, 
which never can exist in the breast of a strange 
prince. It would be difficult to persuade ourselves 
that Henri Quaire could have fled from any field 
where he must leave his subjects to be butchered. 
But we need not go so far back for a proof of 
this kind of affection : Louis XVI. need never have 
returned from Yarennes, would he have allowed hi» 
friends to fire upon the suspicious persons who ap'- 
proached his carriage — " Spare my people !" he 
said, and his own death on the scaffold was the re^ 
ivard of his tenderness 1 

If Napoleon dkl not act as became a sovereign, 
Davoust possessed so much more honour than his 
master, that he maintained his character of a Gene- 
ral to the last. He fought without receding a step, 
imt.il the total destruction of his division, and the 
flight of the few who survived, drew him along with 
them into the woods. 

The detail of the French loss in the battle of 
Krasnoy was, two Generals, fifty-eight officers of 
different ranks, nine thousand one hundred and 
seventy soldiers, taken prisoners. The killed 



255 

anioiinied to four thousand : and the remainder of 
the division flying in every direction, perished in 
the manner before described. The trophies of the 
victory were seventy cannons, three standards, and 
the baton du Marechal of Davoust with the whole 
of his baggage, and no inconsiderable part of Na- 
poleon's. 

By the defeat of this branch of the army, the 
corps of Ney was completely cut off. Indeed, the 
discomfited General had no means of apprising 
Ney of what had happened, that he might avoid a 
similar destruction. His division was to leave Smo- 
lenzk on the very day of this victory. And Prince 
Koutousoff being informed of his march, took in- 
stant measures to mislead him, and to make his de- 
tachment follow the fate of his friend's. To sepa- 
rate him entirely from any communication with the 
main body of the French army, the Commander- 
in-chief dispatched a strong division to Milorado- 
vitch. These troops were posted near the villages 
close to the high road, and a range of batteries 
were constructed of forty pieces of cannon, com- 
manding the only access to Krasnoy by the high- 
way. Through it Ney's division must pass to reach 
the town, and by so doing it mui^t inevitably fall in 
with the great body of the Russians which was post- 
ed close to Krasnoy. 

On the 19th the Cossacs in advance discovered 
the enemy, but from the thickness of the fog they 
could not calculate the number of his columns. 
The same density of atmosphere prevented him 
discerning the batteries that were prepared to des- 
troy him. 

The French M.arshal came rapidly forward, and 
seeing only small parties in his way, affirmed them 
to be only bodies of reconnoisance ; and urged his 
men to haste to join the division of Bavoust and 
their Emperor at Krasnoy ! Full of this expecta- 
tion, he bad no idea but that Koutousofl was at a 
considerable distance from him, and he proceeded 



2ci6 

confidently forward till he arrived within Iialf ^ 
cannon shot of the Russian batteries, and there he 
was presented with a flag of truce and a summons 
to surrender. At this he laughed, still believing 
that the troops he now saw were at the best but a 
small detachment. " Je sauria me faire jour !" ex- 
claiimed he, and rushed to put into execution his 
determination. 

The answer to this reply w^as immediately made 
by tbe Russian guns, and then indeed was he con- 
vinced of his mistake. He saw his men at the dis- 
tance of two hundred paces from the cannons* 
mouths, fall in whole ranks, but the instantaneous 
slaughter did not check the resolution either of the 
soldiers or their commander. The surprise only 
seemed to elicit the full blaze of their courage, and 
they charged upon the batteries with the most furi- 
ous impetuosity. The carnage was dreadful : show- 
ers of grape mowed down hundreds, but still the 
vacuum was filled. A valour worthy of the noblest 
cause was exhibited by column after column pres- 
sing towards the batteries, to glory or the grave* 
At this crisis they suddenly found theit rear as- 
saulted, and were obliged to alter their position. 
A Russian division under the command of General 
Paskevitch, had issued from the villages and be- 
hind the high road (which had been the screen of 
the main army) and attacked the enemy's rear with 
the bayonet. At the same moment his right was 
turned by the Bulans of the guards, and his left 
pushed by the grenadiers of the Pauvlofsky bat- 
talions. The French fought with intrepidity at 
every point, and kept up a heavy fire of musketry 
and grape upon the heads of their assailants — but 
all was in vain. They vv^ere surrounded, their po- 
sition was raked from side to side by the Russian 
guns, and Miloradovilch and his brave followers 
setting their lives at nought, unless they could re- 
duce this division to the same state as its predeces- 
sor, penetrated the ranks of the enemy with so re- 



257 

sistless a force that their order was destroyed. A 
ruinous confusion increased every moment, and 
the slaughter re-doubling in horrible heaps, a retreat 
was attempted by the bleeding remnant of the day. 
Order was impossible ; it was no longer a military 
body, but a concourse of individuals, the relics of 
regiments that strewed the ground, seeking a refuge 
from an exterminating sword ! The wretched sur- 
vivors followed the track in the snow yet left them 
by the fugitives of the preceding day, and fled 
into* the woods. Ney crossed the Boristhenes, at 
tile extremity of these thickets, leaving in the hands 
of his conquerors his colours^ cannon and baggage. 

General Korff pursued the fugitives wherever 
they might be found, and, before many hours, none 
of these two divisions, that were not prisoners, 
excepting their Marshals, lived to tell the story of 
their disasters. 

Scarcely had the shores of the Dneiper witness- 
ed the completion of this second victory, when 
another body of the French appeared in sight. It 
consisted of the last columns of the rear-guard, 
amounting to something more than eleven thousand 
men. They too, were ignorant of the late defeats 
of their countrymen, and were pressing forward in 
the same direction> when a battery of twenty pie- 
ces opened upon them and checked their speed. 
A few minutes afterwards their rear was charged 
by three thousand Russian cavalry, and every de^ 
monstration being made to convince them of their 
disability to resist, their Commander yielded to ne- 
cessity, and dispatched a flag of truce to General 
Miloradovitch to ask for quarter. It was instantly 
granted, and the whole of the French division sur- 
rendered and laid down their arms before the Rus- 
sian troops. Eleven thousand men were made 
prisoners, and one hundred otTicers ; five thousand, 
v/ith four Generals, were left dead in the field. 
iNot a single dragoon was with these columcs, con- 
sequently they had no means of reconnoitering, 

33 



and were more ilian usually at the mercy of iheh 
enemies. Fifty pieces of cannon, the military 
chest, and all the baggage, (which contained much 
©f the plunder from Moscow) fell into the hands of 
MiloradoTitch. The loss sustained by the Russians 
during thes*^ two brilliant days, wars not more than 
five hundred men. 

The French had abandoned Smolenzk on the 
night of the 16th, and on the morning of the 17th 
of November. Its ashes were still throwing forth 
mingled cohnnns of Hame and smoke, when Pla- 
toff approached it. He left within it a regiment of 
chasseurs, and a party of Cossacs, and then procee- 
ded on the right of the Dneiper to take vengeance 
on the enemy who retreated along its banks. The 
brave Hetman was accompanied by fifteen regi- 
ments of Cossacs, and an adequate proportion of 
the horse-artillery of the Don. He set forward to- 
wards Katane in the way to Doubrovna. General 
Orloff-DenizofT, with his two Cossac regiments, 
two light guns, and eight squadrons of dragoons 
were detached in his front. 

Previous to Plafoffs reaching Smolenzk, at about 
seventeen wersts from the town, and on the 15th of 
the month, he fell in Avith twelve pieces of cannon, 
and a train of carriages stretching to an incredible 
length, which had been abandoned by the French 
anny in its progress to its promised depot of plenty. 
On examining the waggons they were found laden 
with spoil and plunder ; with the moveable proper- 
ties of towns and villages ; but no food either for 
man or beast. The poor animals which had been 
destined to drag these useless loads were dead in 
their traces ; and mingled with them, under every 
shape of past agony, lay hundreds of human bodies^ 
Some had dropped from excess of fatigue ; others- 
showed by the gaping marks in their flesh, that 
while vainly attempting to remove from the hour of 
contest they had died victims to previous v/ounds. 
Many had sunk down from their seals on the top of 



259 

the carriages, stifTened into deatli even before Ibev 
were conscious of its approach. Wherever Platoli' 
turned his eyes he saw nothing but images of mor- 
tality. The ground was covered Avith the enemies 
of his country, but they no longer lived : it seem- 
ed like a scene of enchantment : and he marched 
by the insensible array as he would have passed a 
legion of marble statues which some mighty wind 
had levelled with the dusL 

Buonaparte had defied the victorious arm of Rus- 
sia; though beaten from Borodino, and forced from 
the capital of the Tzars, he was still dominant in 
pride, he was still teeming with false reports, till a 
mightier arm than that of all the potentates upon 
earth assailed him. When the Winter of the North, 
and the thunder of its storms rolled on him from 
€very quarter ; when its tempests of sleet hissed on 
him over the trackless desert ; then it was that this 
Dictator of the world acknowledged to himself that 
he was not omnipotent ; then it was that he first 
spoke the truth. Il is not necessary to expatiate 
here upon the general falsity of his bulletins, when- 
ever a true narrative might check the oracle of 
" Caesar and his fortunes !" The pen of a gallant 
British officer, who is also a distinguished military 
writer,* has put this fact beyond a doubt. 

The accumulating disasters of the French army, 
the despair that darkened its onward path, and the 
horrors which appeared in its rear, all convinced 
Napoleon that he could no longer hope to deceive 
the nations. The" dreadful truth must eventually 
contradict such an attempt ; and, therefore, from 
policy he took up an honest pen. On the lUh of 
November, in his twenty-eighth bulletin, he com- 
mences his confessions. But they were not made 
from a free heart, confident in its motives, and 
therefore fearless of events. He garbles and quali- 
fies ; in short, he gives you a sketh of events through 

* Sir Robert Wilson, 



260 

a dimmed glass, and though you may eatch an idea 
of the outline, you must look for the particulars in 
some clearer medium. 



Whilst the grand army of the Russian Empire, 
so successfully drove before it the main body of the 
French and its ambitious leader. Count Vigtenstein 
pursued the advantages he had gained by the fall 
of Polotzk and the defeat of St. Cyr. Soon after 
the flight of that General, Yigtenstein was inform- 
ed by Count Steingel, that in following up his vic- 
tories over the enemys his parties of reconnoisance 
had brought him information of large bodies of Ba- 
varians who were advancing ; and that they came 
on with such manifest superiority in numbers, it 
was prudent for him to fall back towards Dissna. 

On this intelligence being received. Count Vig- 
tenstein ordered General Sassonoff, with twelve 
thousand men, to proceed with all expedition along 
the right bank of the Dwina, to cross the river 
at Dissna, and to unite himself without loss of 
time to the division under SteingeL The junction 
being effected, he was to proceed immediately with 
that General to attack the enemy at Ouschatch. 

The command and the execution seemed the act 
but of one moment ; for early in the morning of 
the 24th of October, this gallant body presented 
itself before the enemy in the environs of that vil- 
lage. 

His cavalry showed themselves in great force, 
and a considerable party of infantry came out to 
form and oppose the Russians ; but the Count's ad- 
ditional troops made him so superior in every re- 
spect to his opponents that they were soon forced 
to quit the field, leaving three hundred men killed, 
and one hundred taken prisoners. Their precipi- 
tation was so great, that they passed a convoy of 
their own not far distant from the scene of their 



261 

defeat, and had the rnortificalion of seeing it seized 
by their pursuers without any resistance. It con- 
sisted of forty waggons, with a considerable escort. 
By this last prize twenty -two regimental standards, 
a great quantity of stores, a commissary-general, 
seven officers and one hundred soldiers fell into the 
hands of the victors. 

By these successes, minor in appearance, but of 
magnitude in their effects, the Bavarians v/ere to- 
tally cut ofi* from the corps of Gouvion St. Cyr. 
That General was then on his march upon Lepel, 
to unite the shattered remains of his divisions to a 
corps under the command of Marshal Victor who 
bad arrived in that neighbourhood. 

Count Vigtenstein having passed the Dwina at 
Polotzk, was now in full pursuit of the enemy in 
the direction of Lepel. The roads over which his 
conquering troops urged forward their glorious 
chase, presented an epitome of those leading from 
Moscow. Dead bodies of men and horses, and 
abandoned cannon and carriages, every where strew- 
ed the way. During his advance towards TchasnikI 
he took ninety waggons of ammunition, nine guns, 
and made eight hundred stragglers prisoners. 

On the 29th of October he arrived with his whole 
force in the neighbourhood of Tchasniki, having 
ordered Major-General Flastoff to remain with a 
formidable detachment in the defiles between Drou- 
ja and Bretzlau, to watch the corps of Macdonald, 
and to maintain the communication with the troops 
of General Lev/is, which had already moved from 
Riga along the left bank qf the D^vina with such 
brilliant success. 

By these manoeuvres, having secured the atten- 
tion of the enemy to that part of the country, the 
brave Vigtenstein found himself at liberty, with- 
out any apprehensions for what he left behind, to 
follow up his present object, Vi'hich was to prevent 
Victor's joining the main army under Buonaparte. 
While he thus aimed to divide the Marshal from his 



262 

leader, be hoped at the same time to form his owft 
junction with Admiral Tchitchagoff who could not 
then be far from Minsk. 

General Le Grand, who had taken the command 
of the French after St. Cyr received his wound at 
Polotzk, reached Lepel ; and, on the 30th of Oc- 
tober, had the good fortune to join Yictor, whose 
corps, consisting of fifteen thousand men, were 
posted upon the Oula, close to the town of Tchas- 
niki. The Russians halted not far from his line ; 
and Count Vigtenstein determined to dislodge him 
from his position, that he might rid the town of such 
hostile neighbours, and acquire for himself the free 
possession of the advantageous country on its right 
and left, where he could securely remain until he 
were fully apprised of the movements of Koutou- 
sofF and of the army of the Danube. 

According to these plans, early in the morning 
of the 31st the Russian Commander put his army 
in motion. The enemy on perceiving this, hasten- 
ed to form, but after a very slight affair, between 
his troops and the covering cavalry and light artil- 
lery of the Russians, he retired across the river 
Loukomnia. With that in his front, he attempted 
to make a stand, but Vigtenstein poured such a 
shower of balls upon him from his artillery, and 
infantry, that, after sustaining a considerable loss, 
he put himself in motion again, and fell back be- 
hind another river. The Russians followed him 
close, galling him with the fire from their guns, and 
so harassing his movements with their cavalry and 
musketry, that at length, after three hours expo- 
sing himself to their destructive operations, he 
retired as fast as the wishes of his adversaries would 
have had him, to Senno. This retreat left the 
whole of the country open to the Count, and he had 
purchased so great an advantage at a comparatively 
small price, for he did not lose more during the whole 
affair than four hundred in killed and wounded. 
The enemy left nine hundred dead on the field, be- 



263 

sides having eight hundred men and twelve officers 
taken prisoners. 

Vigtenstein now fixed his head-qarters at Tchas- 
niki, "and stationed his principal force in the village 
and neighbourhood of Smolnya, a place about 
three wersts distant from Tchasniki. He likewise 
detached a body of troops under the command of 
General La Harpe, with orders to divide themselves 
on their reaching Beshenkovich, and proceed on 
both sides of the Dwina to Vitepsk. 

These orders were executed with alacrity : and 
on the 7th of November, General La Harpe's ad- 
vanced guard appeared before the city. At so un- 
expected a sight the enemy set fire to the bridge, 
and opened two pieces of cannon, which had been 
planted on an adjacent height, upon their approach- 
ing adversaries. Both these attempts to impede 
their progress failed. The Russians attacked the 
enemy even in the act of destroying the bridge, ex- 
tinguished the flames, and, in spite of the rapid 
fire from the two guns and the French musketry, 
drove him back into the town. In the same instant 
the rest of La Harpe's forces coming up, they 
joined the battle, and the enemy no longer making 
opposition fled precipitately through the suburbs 
to the Smolenzk road. While one part of the vic- 
tors pursued the defeated for nearly twenty wersts, 
making an immense havoc, and returning with a 
considerable number of prisoners, the other took 
possession of the town. La Harpe had the satis- 
faction of finding there the French General Prouje, 
who Avas the Governor, and the Commandant Co- 
lonel Schvarde, with ten officers, and near four 
hundred soldiers. These were all made prisoners, 
and with them was taken a quantity of provisions, 
wine, forage, and ammunition, and the two guns 
which had in vain sought to command the bridge. 

The joy of the people on their liberation from ' 
the French j^oke, and at the presence of their coun- 
trymen, b not to be described. At once it turned 



2U 

Ibe s(!ene of war into that of festival, and " long 
live the Emperor Alexander !" resounded from eve™ 
ry quarter. While the citizens rejoiced in their 
freedom, the brave soldiers of Yigtenstein were 
greeted in their turn with the most inspiriting tid- 
ingSjfor it was afVitepsk that they received full in- 
formation of the French grand army having evacu- 
ated Moscow, and that many of its columns paved 
the road to Smolenzk, where at last its discomfited 
leader had arrived. This news, and the near pros- 
pect of meeting the retiring foe, filled the Count 
and his brave followers with the most triumphant 
ardour. The impatience of the men could hardly 
be controlled, and the officers entreated for the 
moment of command when tliey should be ordered 
to rush onward, to assist in avenging the wrongs 
of the Empire upon the most obdurate and mur- 
derous enemy that ever broke the peace of nations^ 
and steeped the race of man in blood. 

Victor felt too severe a^ mortification at the de- 
feat his division had sustained before Tchasniki, not 
to make some effort to displace the tarnish on his 
fame. He received a reinforcement of about three 
thousand men ; and having called around him his 
detached parties from all quarters, determined in 
his turn to dislodge Yigtenstein from his position 
on the Oula. He was assisted in his plans to carry 
forward this resolution, by the counsel of Oudinot, 
who had once more taken the command of the re- 
mains of his division. These colleagues quitted 
Senno in good order and on the 14th moved upon 
Smolnya. In their approach they fell in with the 
Russian advance, who according to orders, in case 
of an attack, were to fall back upon the main body^ 
which was posted in the rear of Smolnya. The 
centre of the main body was protected by a battery 
of twenty pieces of cannon planted on a height, 
and several others covered the flanks, near which 
the reserves of cavalry were stationed. 

Vi,^teosteio's information of the enemy's designs 



265 

Was so excellent, and his measures to counteract 
Ihem so prompt, that in all these cases it seemed 
as if his spirit must mingle in their councils, to 
give him such early and perfect intelligence, that 
all was prepared on the instant to render every 
scheme abortive. 

The advanced guard retreated according to the 
commands they had received, and the enemy, find- 
ing himself not opposed^ followed with triumphant 
hopes, until the Russian retiring forces passing 
from before him he found himself all at once in 
front of Vigtenstein's centre. The surprise did not 
disconcert him, but urging his men forward to re- 
deem the losses of former conflicts in the one be- 
fore them, his whole body fell with fury upon the 
Russian line. The village of Smolnya was his im- 
mediate object. He fought with the energy of a 
man determined at all hazards to recover the glory 
of an invincible name ; and, in spite of the heavy 
discharges from the Russian guns, the place was ta- 
ken. For a moment it was in his hands ! but in 
the succeeding one the Russians forced his soldiers 
back upon their steps. Still he would not be re- 
pulsed ; and with a wonderful valour on both sides, 
Smolnya was taken and re-taken six different times 
at the point of the bayonet. The streets were 
blocked up with the dead, and the ground so slip- 
pery from the blood, that the combatants could 
hardly have kept their feet had they not been al- 
most grappled together in the resolute contest. 

While this was going forward at the centre, the 
Russian wings were formidably threatened by sev- 
eral heavy columns of French infantry, which were 
well supported with artillery, and were bearing 
down with a very determined front. They were per- 
mitted it approach, without molestation, to within 
a few paces of the Russian flanks ; but w^hen ar- 
rived at that point the guns and tirailleurs of their 
antagonists poured on them ceaseless showers of 

34 



ball and grape, and soon levelled most of their tooi^ 
confident ranks with the snow. 

In vain was the attempt renewed. Victor exert- 
ed all his powers, he collected his broken columns, 
he brought them in one strong body again to the as- 
sault, but again the Russian guns and the Russian 
bayonet harrowed up his lines ; and the disappoint- 
ed Marshal found himself compelled to leave the 
field vchile be had yet the semblance of an army to 
take from it ; and with the deepest mortification he 
drew off at the close of the day along the right 
bank of the Oula. He retired in this direction with 
tiie hope of getting round the right flank of bis vic- 
torious enemy ; but here again he was disappoint- 
ed, by an unexpected rencontre with General Fock, 
who commanded the Russian reserve. The dark- 
ness of the night put a stop to all hostilities ; and so 
completely were his hopes annihilated, that with 
the morning's dawn he commenced a decided re- 
treat, retracing the greater part of his steps, and 
then proceeding to Tchemernino, where he halted, 
on the two roads which lead to Senno and to 
Tcberia. 

The Russians sustained a loss, in this day's con- 
test betweeu Vigtenstein and Victor, of eighteen 
officers killed and wounded, and one thousand men ; 
but they made eight hundred prisoners in the fields 
and six hundred more were taken by the cavalry in 
pursuing the enemy next day. The French left 
fifteen hundred dead upon the disputed ground. 

General Vlastofi drove their cavalry from Vid- 
zy, anfl spreading his troops from thence to the 
town of Glouboko, made many prisoners, and took 
several pieces of cannon ; and by this movement 
united his line of operation with that of Vigtenstein. 

On the 18th of November Colonel TchftrnicheflT 
gained Count Vigtenstein's head-quarters. He had 
been dispatched by Admiral Tchitchagoff, at the 
head of a regiment of Cossacs, to discover how for 
the army of Vigtenstein had advanced, and to give 



267 

Chat !>'eneral information of the Admiral's approach 
to Minsk. 

Much intrepidity and military skill were requir- 
ed to execute this arduous commission- The brave 
TchernichefF liad to make his way through many 
detachments of the enemy, some advancing and 
others retiring, before he could reach his destined 
point. But he undertook the task with eagerness, 
and performed it with a judgment proportioned to 
his zeal. His sword was frequently dyed in blood 
during his perilous march, and his helmet as often 
crowned with victory^ Several rivers interposed 
themselves in his path; and notwithstanding the 
severity of the season, their rapid course prevent- 
ed their being frozen. These were no obstacles to 
him; he and his heroes breasted the inclement stream, 
and passed it a la nage. It was not enough that he 
marched towards the object of his commander's or- 
ders, he gathered glory in his path, and his eye 
guided by his ardour, seemed to see on every side 
of him. He overtook, and seized or destroyed, 
whole convoys ; making their escorts his prisoners, 
or giving them to the dust, which had so deeply 
been saturated with the blood of his countrymen. 
To recount the various particulars of the march of 
this true hero might appear a romantic relation, a 
tale more suited to the hyperbole of fiction than to 
the sober record of facts. But all who are person- 
ally intimate with Count TchernichefF, with the 
comprehensive powers of his mind, which grasps in 
one sublime view the past, the present, and the fu- 
ture ; which sees the fate which hangs on the deci- 
sion of a moment and has the courage to cast his life 
upon the point that cleaves the links ; all who are 
acquainted with the invincible valour of his heart, 
and the almost supernatural power with which his 
spirit seems to mingle with the minds of his men, 
and to stimulate them to the most heroic daring ; 
none who thus knew Count TchernichefF, can deem 
any thing marvellous which tells of his bravery, and 



268 

the prowess of his troops. Amongst his numerous 
services in this expedition, one of the most dear to 
his country is, that to his vigilance the gallant 
General Baron Vinzingorode owes his life and lib- 
erty ; and also, that the Russian empire is indebt- 
ed to the same resolution for the return of another 
of its most invaluable officers/^ 

From Count TchernichefF, General Vigtenstein 
received the full particulars of the ruined state of 
the French grand army, and of the actual flight of 
the Saigon and Austrian troops. A few days after 
the arrival of this animating report, all was sub- 
st?intiated by Vigtenstein finding himself in direct 
communication with PlatofT and the main army. 
The General aide-de-camp Golenischeff Koutou- 
soff, arrived at the city of Babinovitchi on the 22d, 
and was the agent of this decisive communication. 
The conduct of himself and his troops, during his 
march, reflected honour on his illustrious name ; 
and thus through a career of military achievements, 
he arrived at the point which was to complete the 
cordon of Russian forces around the retreating di- 
visions of Napoleon Buonaparte. 

Yictor and Oudinbt finding that their Great 
Leader was not merely in retreat but in flight, from 
the realms of the Russian Emperor, deemed it 
proper to follow his example. But they did not 
desert their troops ; they marched at their head, 
sharing alike the evils of defeat with the triumphs 
of victory, and commenced their evacuation of the 
invaded ground on the 22d of November. They 
moved in the direction of Toutchino, with the hope 
of falling in with the fugitive divisions from the in- 
terior, and Dombrofsky's corps from Mohiloff", 
Yigtenstein observed all their motions, and his adr= 
vanced guard followed them, 

^ See Note. .. 



269 



The army of Admiral Teh itch agolT had been on 
its march towards Minsk, from the 27th of Octo- 
ber, leaving as has before been stated, a strong; 
corps under General Saken in the neighbonrhood of 
Brest-Litofsky. Major-General Liders was on his 
way from Yoline ; and General Hertei from Mazir 
to the same place of rendezvous. 

During these movements the advanced-guard of 
the army was commanded by Count de Lambert. 
While on his route he fell in with a party of Dom- 
brofsky's division at Novossverjene, pursued it to 
Kaydanovo, attacked it there, and compelled it to 
surrender. In this affair he took two pair of col- 
ours, two pieces of cannon, sixty-three officers, 
and four thousand soldiers. 

After this success of their advanced-guard, the 
army of the Danube proceeded without impedi- 
ment to Minsk, which place they took possession of 
on the 16th of November. Admiral Tchitchagofi 
found it rich in well-stored magazines of various 
stores, also much baggage, which had lately arrived 
in advance from the French at Moscow ; and a 
number of fugitives whom he took prisoners. 

No sooner was the admiral in full occupation of 
Minsk, then he ordered the gallant De Lambert, 
(whose corps he greatly strengthened,) to proceed 
with all expedition to Borrisoflf, where he w^ould 
fall in upon Dombrofsky. That Polish General lay 
there in much force, having augmented his num- 
bers by every means in his power, and covered his 
position with a tete du pont. 

On the 21st the Russian troops came upon the 
out parties of the enemy, drove them to the shelter 
of their works, and, scarcely waiting for an order 
from their commander, the heroes of the Danube 
rushed upon the French and Poles, carried all be- 
fore them, and precipitated the enemy with a ter- 



270 

rible slaughter across the bridge. Some fell over 
the parapets, and were drowned, and those which 
escaped the river and the sword, fled with the most 
headlong haste towards Orcha. Thirty-eight offi- 
cers, and four thousand soldiers, with eight cannon, 
and two pair of colours, were taken by the victors 
in this contest. Borrisoff, falling of course into 
their hands, numerous strong detachments of the 
army spread themselves along the left shore of the 
Berezina, even to beyond Zembino, to seize all the 
passes, and to destroy every bridge by which Buo- 
naparte and his legions might facilitate their escape. 

During the eight last days, previous to the brave 
TchitchagofF's possession of Borrisoff, he had made 
upwards of fourteen thousand prisoners, including 
the sick and the Avounded whom he found in Minsk. 

Thus the three Russian armies, for so they may 
be named, were drawn almost to a circle, around 
the half-animated remains of their once merciless, 
but now flying enemy. 

Buonaparte having dragged his famishing troops 
beyond Smolenzk, and still pushing them on with 
as much rapidity as they were capable of, imagin- 
ed that he had passed the worst. He now cheered 
them who had strength to listen to promises, with 
the hope of coming up with the corps of Victor, 
Oudinot, and Dombrofsky. He flattered himself 
that the junction would yet put him at the head of 
forty thousand soldiers ! Such would then be the 
grand army of France ! Once an usurper, the 
mighty Augustus of Rome, demanded v/ith grief 
and indignation of his discomfited General, " Give 
me my legions !'* What would Napoleon answer, 
if France were to demand of her Augustus, " Give 
me the four hundred thousand soldiers you carried 
from my frontiers !" 

On leaving Smolenzk, forty-three thousand men 
were his whole anticipated host ! 

He counted on these three divisions of the be- 
fore mentioned Marshals, as if already in his lines. 



271 

jind with eager calculation he enumerated the ad- 
vantages of the country to which he was proceed- 
ing, where he must meet the vast magazines he had 
ordered to be prepared ; and the fidelity of a whole 
people, who had once been under the jurisdiction 
of Russia, but were now devoted to France in him. 
Full of these anticipations he reached Orcha, and 
there he found they all were vain. A thousand 
voices opened at once to tell him that Minsk and 
all its magazines w^ere in the hands of Admiral 
Tchitchagoff. Desperation makes men bold ; this 
report was quickly accompanied with accusations 
in the shape of information, saying, that the Rus- 
sians had spread themselves in formidable bodies 
along the shores of the Berezina river ; that the 
French Generals had been beaten, and the Polish 
General Dombrofsky defeated with a terrible loss. 

Galling as was such intelligence, and much as 
Napoleon might wish to discredit its truth, he found 
it impossible for the sad proofs of the univeri^al de- 
struction of his armies were every day brought into 
the town. Flying troops, or solitary fugitives, were 
constantly pouring in for food and protection ; and 
wherever he moved he beheld spectacles of defeat 
and misery ; he heard the murmurs of wretched- 
ness and the groans of despair. No parasite would 
venture to contradict to his master the evidence of 
his own eyes ; and that master would no Ibnger 
flatter himself into a dis^>elief that the Generals of 
Russia now held his fate in their hands. He learnt 
that Yigtenstein had been powerfully reinforced by 
Steingel, and was then in actual communication 
with Tchitagoff, making all their movements in 
concert. 

This formidable junction in his path presented 
to the mind of Napoleon fresh scenes of defeat and 
disgrace ; and he was well assured that the speed 
of his pursuers would not allow him a moment's 
repose in his rear. The situation in which he found 
himself w^as indeed new to him; he saw before him 



272 

nothing but death or captivity ; and yet he trusted 
to his fortu7iate star I 

Delay was accompanied with danger, and he de^ 
termined to advance at any rate. To this end he 
collected his troops, and making some necessary 
preparations for what, he must be conscious, must 
be the last struggle of his army in his defence, he 
quitted Orcha, and gave orders that the passage of 
the river should be disputed at any sacrifice. What 
his own opinion was of the instruments he was us-^ 
ing to cut his way out of the toil in which he had 
entangled himself, we have in his own words : 

" This army so complete on the 6th, became very 
different after the ]4tl5; nearly destitute of caval- 
ry, of artillery^ and of transport-carriages. With^ 
out cavalry it was impossible for us to reconnoiter, 
beyond the distance of a quarter of a league ; while 
without artillery Vv'e could not risk a battle, and 
firmly remain in expectation of the enemy. It was 
indispensable for us to occupy a certain space of 
ground to avoid being turned, and that without 
cavalry to unite the columns and advance for the 
purpose of observation. This difficulty, joined to 
the suddenness of the intense cold, rendered our 
situation extremely vexatious* Those feebly-con- 
structed men, to whom nature had denied the pow-^ 
er of 'rising above the chai)ces of place and fortune, 
appeared shaken, lost .their gaiety and good hu- 
mour, and brooded solely over present suffering 
and future calamity ; but such as she had creat- 
ed superior to every accident, preserved their spir- 
its and their ordinary temper, and saw in every new 
obstacle but additional glory." 

Tliose whom " nature had created superior to 
every accident," and had enabled " to preserve 
their ordinary temper," and even their lives, under 
all the attacks of a northern winter, without shel- 
ter or laiment, and accompanied with every " ca- 



273 

iamity" (not in prospect but in reality) of war^ 
disease, and famine ; those that were thus temper- 
ed were indeed very few : while the many who 
despaired and perished, were surely worthy of some 
pity from the man in whose cause they died. 

It is said that fear lends wings. The flight of 
Buonaparte proves that those he borrowed were of 
the swiftest pinion ; for on leaving Orcha he found 
he had so outstripped his pursuers that he might 
pass the river without a sacrifice. The great mass 
of the Russian army from Krasnoy having to make 
a short halt to give time for the arrival of their pro- 
visions, which the rapidity of their late movements 
had left considerably in their rear, Buonaparte us- 
ed this moment of breathing to the best advantage* 
He had been joined by some of his fugitive Gene- 
rals, \Vhom he now thus disposed of. Dombrofsky 
he dispatched to the left of Borrisoff ; and Victor 
and Oudinot to his right, to oppose Vigtenstein ; 
whilst he, with the rest of the army, would ap- 
proach the shores of the Berezina. 

Having made these dispositions, on the 20th of 
November he evacuated Orcha, and took the Bor- 
risoff road through Kockanova, leaving many strag- 
gling parties behind, who had not come Up with 
his late head-quarters before he quitted them. And 
fortunate it was for him that he had been so prompt 
in executing his resolution to leave Orcha, for not 
long afterwards it was entered by Ogerofsky and 
his Cossacs. 

That officer, and his brave coadjutor. General 
Borosdin, had been indefatigable in following up 
the rear-guard of the enemy, and near Doubrovna 
they fell in with a considerable body, killed more 
than one thousand, and took four cannon, a quan- 
tity of baggage, and upwards of six hundred pri- 
soners. The rest fled, and the Russians continu- 
Jed to pursue the fugitives till they led them to the 
gates of Orcha. They entered within them, and 
found the town just as it had been evacuated by 

35 
% 



274 

Btienaparte. Twenty-six cannon fell into theif 
liands with some prisoners, and an immense num- 
ber of sick and Avounded. 

Ogerofsky proceeded in the great pursuit by 
moving on bis left towards Gorki, in the direction 
of MohilofF, which road was covered with thou- 
sands of the flying enemy. 

Count Platoff maintained his victorious career on 
the right shore of the Dneiper, where he continu- 
ed to destroy hundreds of the discomfited corps 
which had fled from the defeat at Krasnoy. His 
chasseurs took upwards of three thousand of these 
men prisoners-, and happy were many of them so 
to be rescued from famine and constant exposure 
to the elements.. 

While thus employed, the brave Ketman receiv- 
ed intelligence that Marshal Ney, with a part of 
his shattered division, had been seen near the woods 
at the village of Goussinovo, where he was collect-^ 
ing stragglers, to form a tolerably eifective force 
to move towards Orcha. Platoflf determined that 
if he could prevent it, neither Marshal nor soldier 
should ever see that place, and he ordered masked- 
batteries to be instantly constructed in the road 
iN'ey must pass, while, covering his Cossacs and 
other troops with the woodsy he stood to overwhelm 
the unsuspecting enemy. In the moment of their 
full entrance into this well concerted ambuscade^r 
a dreadful fire of grape was opened upon tbem^ 
and the exhausted troops finding death surround 
them, with one accord dispersed and fled into the 
woods. Tiiere the Cossacs met them, and slew 
about two thousand. Eight hundred were taken 
prisoners by the other troops. 

Marshal Ney, ¥/ith a few of his followers, wa* 
so fortunate as to escape the search of his con- 
querors. But he passed the whole of the wretched , 
night in the snows of the forest. He did not sleepJ|l 
for sleep in such a situation, under these malignant 
skies, would have been death. He wandered stbout 



275 

with llie dread at every step of rousing his him- 
lers from their rest. A tiger from its lair, Would 
have been more tolerable to him : and, with the 
morning's light he pursued his flight, passing 
through abandoned Orcha with the speed of despe- 
ration. 

A short time before tliis event, the Cossac Chief 
had been reinforced from the main army with fifteen 
battalions of infantry, two regiments of cavalry, 
and two companies of artillery. This formidable 
aid joined him under the command of Major-Gene- 
ral ErmollofF, who crossed the Dneiper near Ras~ 
sasna. 

The advanced-guard under Miloradovitch, pass- 
ed the Boristhenes at Koscis on the 23d, in order 
to follow up Piatoff and his colleague, who were 
rapidly approaching the army of Vigtenstein by 
the way of Toulchino, 

A little before this period the main army had re- 
ceived its provisions, and, having issued them 
amongst its divisions, it moved onward. On the 
19th the head-quarters w^ere at Dobrae ; on the 
20th at Romanova ; the 21st at Laniki, where it 
halted. On the 23<l it reached Garranii. It then 
passed through the village of Morosovo, and gain- 
ed Kopis on the 25th, where it crossed the river, 
directing its march by Staroselia to the city of Zez- 
^inya. From this place the Field-Marshal propos- 
'^oving, according to circumstances, upon Bo- 
' the Berezina. 

' ^-^rvation on the enemy now convinced 

'^at he intended to force a passage 

'een BorrisofF and Yassilevo. To 

;n army moved on towards Ou- 

, vvmist a strong detachment proceeded to 

Jbi^rressino and took possession of that town. 

The corps under the General-aide-de-camp Kou- 

tousoff, which had long acted on the extreme right 

of Piatoff, marked its advance with a success equal 

to that of the Gossans. During its various engage- 



276 

ments with the enemy it took upwards of six thou- 
sand men prisoners, besides three Generals and 
eighty other officers, and killed more than equal 
the number. 

At Babonavitch, this gallant officer, so worthy 
of the illustrious name he shared, came up with 
the light troops of Count Yigtenstein. This junc- 
tion was the prime object of his march, and when 
he arrived, he was to put himself under the orders 
of the Count, Vigtenstein was tob well aware of 
his value, to allow him to remain a day without an 
employment adequate to his high military abilities. 
He therefore dispatched him instantly to his right 
flank, to cover it from any attack the enemy might 
make ; and that one might be meditated, was evi- 
dent from certain dispositions made by a strong 
body of Bavarians under General Wrede, who 
were at that time in the neighbourhood of Dock- 
chitzi. However the links which formed the circle 
of the Russian army might move themselves, still 
the chain was complete : however the shattered di- 
visions of the French army might extend themselves 
in their flight, still they were held within the ring 
of their enemies. There appeared not an avenue 
of escape. The French soldier seemed to have no- 
thing now to do, but to .surrender or to die. 

To force Napoleon to one of these alternatives 
was now the object of the Russian General ; an<^ 
before many days Count Yigtenstein, seconded 
Platoff" and the advanced guard of the main 
had the glory of striking a decisive b^" ' 

his destruction, on the banks of the P 
final stroke w^as left to the arms < Lia 1 

the Danube and their intrepid '^^ ' 

The corps of Oudinot and 'Victo± tuo^i . 
pid march towards Borrisoff*. The wretched Ux vi- 
sion of the latter was supposed to form a rear- 
guard of the once formidable grand army. General | 
Vigtenstein followed these troops through Tcherie 
to Holopolichi, while his advanced-guard under 



277 

General Vlastoff followed the general pursuit, and 
fell in with a part of the enemy at the village of Ba- 
toury. This rear division was commanded by Ge- 
neral Dentelne. Vlastoff attacked it without a, 
halt, overturned every opposition, and saw its dis- 
persed members fly before him in x;very direction. 
He pursued them for two days, during which time 
he made General Dentelne Ir'^ prisoner, with forty 
officers and two thousand men. 

On finding the enemy retreat in such haste, and 
in such numbers. General V iglenstein made a move- 
ment from the city of Holopplichi, to his right, 
towards the village of Barani, in order to cut off 
their escape by Lepel, and to enable himself to act 
upon Vesselovo and Stoudentzi. At these two 
places the fugitives had collected in great multi- 
tudes, and were then constructing bridges, over 
the Berezina, the old ones having been broken 
down to prevent their passage. At one of these 
points he could not doubt that Buonaparte must be 
himself; and aware that the half-frozen state of 
the river must render the erection of bridges a dif- 
ficult task, he hoped to intercept the prime mover 
OF THE world's DISCORD at ouc or other of these 
bridges. To this end he sent instant advice to Pla- 
toff, not to delay a moment, but to push forward 
with all expedition towards Borrisoff. Vigtenstein 
accompanied these orders with his own movement 
from Barani to Kostritzi. From thence, in the af- 
ternoon of the 26th, he came down upon Staroy- 
Borrisoff a short Avay from Stoudentzi. By the 
rapidity of this march, and its disposition, he com- 
pletely cut off Marshal Yictor from the point at 
which he aimed ; and totally destroyed the various 
parties of other fugitives that lined the way to 
Stoudentzi, Not a moment w^as given them to 
form. The Russian artillery at once opened their 
flaming njouths, and pouring grape and shot upon 
them they were drove from every quarter into one 
concentrated mass of t-^rror and of death. Col- 



278 

umns of Russian infantry spread themselves along 
the bank of the river, presenting an insurmounta- 
ble barrier against them who would have attempted 
|;0 cross. Four hours did the torrent of destruc- 
tion, from cannon and from musketry, shower upon 
thelieads~\5f-the:^ devoted men, cooped up with- 
in a narrow circle ctiid almost unresisting. They 
could not fight, but "^hey attempted to fly. No 
avenue could be found ; and Count Vigtenstein, 
feeling for the distress of even so ruthless an ene- 
my, sent a flag of tr^uce to their General, telling 
him that as no hop'^s of retreat were left he must 
instantly surrender, or see his whole division aban- 
doned to the rage of the Russian soldiers. For a 
few minutes hesitation seemed ready to precipitate 
these devoted people to the horrible fate of merci- 
less exiirpation, but in the moment of their doubt, 
and of the impatience of the indignant victors, the 
invincible chief of the Don and his followers made 
their appearance, and decided the council of war. 
They gave themselves up to the clemency of Vig- 
tenstein, laying down their arms, and, in the sur^ 
render, put into his hands the four Generals Bil- 
liard, De Letter, Kamuse, and Blamont. In the 
conflict the Russians had taken thirty officers and 
one thousand men prisoners : but the capitulation, 
besides the Generals named above, augmented the 
list with the addition of five colonels, two hundred 
and thirty-nine officers, and seven thousand eight 
hundred soldiers. Three peices of cannon, two stan- 
dards and a vast quantity of baggage, were also 
taken ; but the trophy of the greatest consequence 
was the seizure of two whole regiments of cavalry 
in excellent condition ; the one had arrived to Vic- 
tor from the Duchy of Berg, and the other was 
composed of fresh Saxons. 

Buonaparte not having been found in the one 
spot, no time v/as lost in seeking him at the other ; 
and immediately on the submission of the eneniy 
under the Geoerak Billiard, &c. PlatofF was dis^ 



279 

patched by the way of BorrisofT to the opposite 
fihore, to join Admiral Tchitchagoff, and in con- 
junction with him to fall upon the grand fugitive^ if 
he should have been so fortunate as to have passed, 
by any means, over the river. 

While the Hetman pursued his order. Count 
Vigtenstein proceeded to attack the other branch 
of the enemy, even in the act of crossing the 
Berezina. Two bridges had been completed, the 
one near Stubentzi, and the other near Yesselovo. 
Here, indeed, was Napoleon. The opposite shore 
was Zembino. The instant the work was passable 
the impatient Emperor of the French ordered over 
a sufficient number of his guards to render the Avay 
tolerably safe from immediate molestation ; and the 
moment that was ascertained he followed with his 
suite and principal Generals, a promiscuous crowd 
of soldiers pressing after him. The bridge was 
hardly cleared of his weight and that of his chosen 
companions, when the rush of fugitives redoubled.. 
No order could be ke^t with the hordes that pour- 
ed towards its passage for escape and life, for the 
Russians were in their rear ; the thunder of Yigten- 
stein was rolling over their heads. No pen can 
describe the confusion and horror of the scenes 
which ensued. The French army had lost its rear- 
guard and they found themselves at once exposed 
to all the operations of the vengeful enemy. On 
the right and on the left there was no escape ; can- 
non, bayonets, and sabres, menaced them on every 
side ; certain death was on their rear j in their front 
alone was there any hope of safety ; and, frantic 
with the desperate alternative, thousands upon 
thousands flew towards the Berezina, some plung- 
ing into the river, but most directing their steps to 
the newly constructed bridges, which seemed to 
offer them a passage from their enemies. Misery 
had long disorganized the French army, and in the 
present dismay no voice of order was heard ; the 
tumult was tremendous, was destructive of each 



280 

other, as the despairing wretches pressed forward 
and struggled for precedence in the moment of es-^ 
cape. 

'. Yigtenstein stood in horror, viewing this chaos 
of human misery ; to close it at once in death or 
in capitulation was the wish of his brave heart: 
but the enemy was frantic ; nothing could he heard 
but the roar of cannon and the cries of despain 
The wounded and the dying covered the surface of 
the ground ; the survivors rushed in wild fury upon 
their affrighted comrades on the bridges. They 
could not penetrate, but only press upon a crowd 
at the nearest extremity, for these passages were 
so filled with desperate fugitives that they crushed 
on each other to suffocation and to death. Trains of 
artillery, baggage, cavalry, and waggons of all 
kinds, being intermixed and driven pell-mell to one 
point, hundreds of human beings were trodden down, 
trampled on, torn and mashed to pieces* Officers 
and soldiers were mingled in one mass ; self-pre* 
servation was the only stimulus, and seeking that, 
many a despairing wretch precipitated his comrade 
to destruction, that he might find his place on the 
bridge. Thousands fell into tlie river, thousands 
threw themselves into the hideous stream, hoping 
to save themselves by swimming, but in a few 
minutes they were jammed amidst the blocks of ice 
which rolled along its flood, and either killed in 
the concussion or frozen to death by the extremity 
of the cold. The air resounded with the yells and 
jBhrieks (it was something more horrible than cries) 
of the dying, wounded, and drowning ; but they 
were only heard at intervals, for one continued roar 
seemed to fill the heavens, of the Russian artillery 
pouring its floods of deathful retribution on the 
heads of the desolaters of its country. Welcome 
indeed were the deaths it sent ; few were his pangs 
who fell by the ball or the sabre, compared with 
his torture who lay mangled beneath the crowding 
feet of his comrades, who" expired amid the crashing 



281 

liorrors of a world of ice. But the despair of these 
fated wretches was not yet complete. The head 
which had planned all these evils might yet be 
amongst them : and the bridges, groaning beneath 
the weight of their loads, were to be fired ! the 
deed was done ; and still crowd upon crowd con- 
tinued to press each other forward choking up the 
passage amid bursting flames, scorched and frozen 
at the same instant, till at length the whole sunk 
with a death-like noise into the bosom of the Bere- 
zina. 

This desperate expedient prevented Yigtenstein 
from immediately crossing to the other side to pur- 
sue those which had escaped ; but having so far 
done his part, he did not doubt but that the rest 
would be achieved by his coadjutors on the oppo- 
site shore. 

It is scarcely possible to Calculate accurately the 
amount of the enemy that were lost on this dread- 

« occasion ; certainly more than five thousand 
re killed, and nearly the same number drowned, 
lirteen thousand prisoners, with many officers of 
every rank, were taken, and sent by the Russian 
General into his rear. He also took fifteen pieces 
of cannon, and baggage of every description filled 
with the pillage of Moscow, and the sacking of 
other Russian cities. The booty nearly covered 
the space of half a square mile, and so closely 
were the carriages which contained it wedged to- 
gether that it was impossible for either a horse or a 
man to find a way through them. Several colours 
and eagles were taken amidst these spoils; but the 
trophy which would have crowned all, and whose 
captivity would have given the world peace, had 
escaped ! and the brave followers of Yigtenstein 
looked to the army of the Danube to put the Trouh- 
ler of the Earth into their hands. 

All this havoc could not be made on any people 
however paralyzed by terror, without some despe- 
i:ate resistance ; and accordingly during these three 

36 



282- 

c>r foiir tremendous days the French did make some 
sho^v ef opposition, but in a desultory and unmili- 
tary manner. Not more than two thousand men 
fe]i on the part of Count Vigtenstein. 

As soon as that General discovered that Buona- 
parte had crossed the Berezina, he dispatched the 
General-aide-de-camp KoutousofF towards Lepel, 
charging him to pass the river there, and come 
down upon the flank of the enemy on the opposite 
side. Meanwhile,, he ordered a detachment under 
Lieutenant-Colonel Teltenborne to move against 
the Bavarians at Dockschitzi. These commands 
were punctually obeyed. Tetlenborne reached the 
Bavarian rear-guard, which he attacked and de- 
feated, making twenty-six officers prisoners, with 
one thousand men. This success and the occupa- 
tion of Dockschitzi, completely separated Wrede's 
corps from the fugitive army, and cut off from that 
army all hope of strengthening its exhausted ranks.- 
with additional troops, until it might reach the fr 
tiers of Poland. Hope dared hardly rest upon t 
prospect, for those frontiers seemed now divide 
from them by a w^orld of horrors, whose least ter- 
rible apparition was that of death ! 






BuRiKS the conflagi'ation^^ of the bridges, and 
pursued by the horrible shrieks of his deserted peo-^ 
pie perishing in the flames, Buonaparte speeded on 
bis flight till the wind no longer brought the sounds 
1o his ear. Oudinot, and the Generals which were 
his companions, and the guards who yet afforded 
him protection, followed his steps into a deep wood 
on the left bank of tiie Berezina, near the village 
Tchatchovo, and leading to Brilovo. Here, in its 
closest recesses, he souglit a temporary covert for his 
tears and his shame. The greater mass of fugi- 
tives, the thousand victims of his auibition, who- 
had desperately forced their way over the bridges 



■ODO 

l)efuTe they were set on fire, having also s^'ainecl the 
opposite shore, ran in crowds towards siiiiiiar pla- 
ces of refuge, and hid themselves behind the thick- 
ets and under the trees which spread every where 
upon the margin of this river. 

But these hapless wretches did not pass to tiieir 
shelter unobserved. Z>[igirf alone prevented the 
parties of TchitchagofF from driving them back 
into the w^ater ; for, until its shadows covered theoi 
from their enemies, the Russian guns and musket- 
ry poured upon their heads, and strewed the line of 
their flight with the dead bodies of their compan- 
ions. 

The next day (the 28th of November) tlie brave 
Admiral bore down upon the last array of the ene- 
my. That any should be attempted after such 
coriintless defeats, and such complete destruction, 
seemed as vain as surprising ; but Napoleon had 
one more point to gain, and the spectre of an army 
^as therefore raised to stand between his last re- 
fpreant acts and the eyes of his pursuers. 

During the night the poor fugitives had been col- 
lected into the semblance of a force ; and what ar- 
tillery and baggage they had saved, being gather- 
ed into one point, they were told that if they hop- 
ed to reach the Polish frontiers they must exeii 
themselves like true soldiers, and make themselves 
a way to Wilna ; for the road by Minsk v^as too 
thickly covered by the enemy to allow of even an 
attempt. The French Generals might exhort and 
issue their commands for some show of order ; but 
it was to a desperate multitude they spoke, no long- 
er to a disciplined army; and no attention was paid" 
to their orders. 

In this terrible dilemma the enemy heard once 
more the Russian guns. The forces of Tchitcha- 
gofF were impatient to give the final blow to their 
merciless adversaries ; and the fire of their mus- 
ketry kept time with the shov^ers of balls which the 
artillery hurled on the falling ranks of the enemy. 



The French Generals were in despair : they were 
seen galloping to and fro, endeavouring to animate 
hy their example, or force by their threats the ex- 
hausted courage of Iheir soldiers. Ney rode amongst 
them, calling to the men who seemed to have the 
most power, to remember the days of their victo- 
ries and glory. Mortier and Victor, and several 
others followed him with similar excitements, but 
all in vain ; the men weie resolved and sullen : 
they would fight man to man for their own lives, 
but no more battles for the author of their mise- 
ries ! 

Oudinot had been more successful in his exhor- 
tations ; but in the moment of his bringing up an 
ill-assorted band of dismounted cavalry and infant- 
ry to oppose to a battalion of Russians who were 
charging forward in great force, he received a shot 
in his side, which placed him hors de combaty and 
afforded his reluctant followers a good excuse to 
take him and themselves into the rear. * 

While this extraordinary and bloody scene wa^ 
going forward, the chief of all these horrors seized 
the opportunity, and, screened by the tumult of 
the slaughter (for it was no more a conflict) mov- 
ed off with his chosen few towards Pletchinichou ! 

Having again had the good fortune to escape the 
guns and the hands of his enemies, he set at nought 
all lives but kis own, and totally abandoned every 
idea of making any attempt to save an individual, 
or an article belonging to his once vast army. Buo- 
naparte was now the sole object in Buonaparte's 
mind ; Buonaparte without faith, without honour, 
without courage 1 In this spirit, so worthy of a 
tyrant, he left the few perishing thousands who had 
survived the wreck of his ambition, to the utmost 
rigors of their fate. 

For some hours after bis desertion his Generals 
strove to keep up the appearance, at least, of re- 
sistance to the triumphant career or their enemies ; 
and by this valour on their side time was afforded 



285 

him to make his flight more distant, and therefore 
more secure. But their utmost exertions could not 
continue very long to oppose the force of the Rus- 
sian troops, and the enfeebled state of their own ; 
and at last they found themselves compelled to take 
to flight, while their wretched followers again broke 
into scattered multitudes, and fled in every direction 
into the forests, along the roads, and over the dis- 
tant wastes. In sliort, there was no point to which 
they did not direct their frantic steps, where they 
might hope to avoid the sabres and pikes of their 
enemies. 

During this carnage TchitchagofF had given or- 
ders to throw some pontoon-bridges across the Be- 
rezina, to accelerate the advance of Count Vigten- 
stein. This was speedily done, and the victorious 
Count was soon by the side of his brave coadjutor. 
By a parallel movement on the Admiral's right his 
eager troops pursued the general object in concert 
with the army of the Danube. 

iThe General-aide-de-camp Koutousoif, together 
with his able colleagues. Generals Borosdin and 
Tettenbome, received orders to push on from the 
neighbourhood of Yilyky, even to beyond Wilna» 
to destroy the bridges as they passed, and if possi- 
ble to intercept the flying Napoleon before he could 
reach the Neimen. 

Count Platoff, in full houra ! with his clouds of 
Donskoy heroes, followed the fugitives with blood 
and slaughter along the roads leadinor to Molodet- 
chino and Smorgon. Tchit€ha2:ofr's advanced- 
guard, under Major-General Tchaplitz, moved m 
the same direction ; whilst that of the main army, 
under Miloradovitch, brought up the train. In 
this disposition was almost the whole military 
strength of Russia in full chase of their invaders. 

Whilst this accumulation of distress and disgrace 
was overwhelming the remains of the French anny, 
its fugitive chief was endeavouring by every sub- 
terfuge of falsehood to conceal iVom France and 



286 

his allies its ruined condition. Even his own Gen- 
erals at Wilna were kept in ignorance of his com- 
plete discomfiture ; and it was not until the dearth of 
intelligence from the grand army created in them 
some alarm, and the information that Minsk was 
surrounded by the army of the Danube struck 
them with a conviction of disaster, that they had 
any suspicion of the universal defeat their master 
had sustained. 

It is related, but 1 do not affirm it as a fact, that 
after twelve days of suspense, during which no in- 
formation whatever arrived from Buonaparte, Ma- 
ret dispatched a young Polander, disguised as a 
w^oman, towards the probable position of the French. 
After an absence of five days, he at length found 
his way back, but it was by thriding a thousand ma- 
zes filled with the pursuing enemy ; and he brought 
with him a true statement of the case. If this an- 
ecdote be true, Maret was too well versed in his 
master's will to make the fact public ; for, about this 
very time he published a Gazette at Wilna, implht- 
ing that Napoleon was moving along the banks of 
the Berezina at the head of the main body of his ar- 
my, while the rest remained in good garrison at Smor 
lenzk ; and to complete the tale, it was added that 
the Russians were so overpowered in every quarter 
that the army of the Danube was the only remnant 
to be destroyed. When that affair was over, the 
Emperor and King would then proceed in full glory 
to Wilna. 

While Maret thus attempted to veil the disasters 
of Buonaparte, he was equally active in trying to 
avert the worst consequences. With this intention 
he dispatched General Loison (who had some time 
before arrived from Koningsberg with ten thousand 
men) towards Ochmania, to cover the flying army. 
But the evil was too great for so small a power to 
stem. The sword of the enemy and the " arrowy 
sleet" of the inclement nights, reduced them to less 



287 

tFian three thousand men before they came within 
sight of their fugitive comrades. 

The way v;as long and disastrous between the 
banks of the Berezina and the Polish frontiers^ 
There was no where a stan<], but an unceasing 
chase from that river's brink to the passage of the 
Neimen. Prisoners, arms, standards, baggage, eve- 
ry where fell into the hands of the pursuers. Noth- 
ing can better depict the extreme abandonment of 
hope, and the excessive misery of the enemy dur- 
ing this dreadful period, than a letter which one of 
the brave Russians, then in pursuit, addressed to a 
relation in St. Petersburgh- 

"Though besieged with miseries, and assailed 
with all the fury of our cannon and bayonets, it is 
certain that nearly forty thousand of our merciless 
invaders escaped to the nearest bank of the Berezi- 
na. But there, even in the moment in which they 
believed themselves safe, they met their destruction; 
th«y plunged in to gain the opp'osite shore, and ma- 
ny of them met the death from which they fled, in 
the cold breast of the river, in the direful flames 
which rolled along its surface. 

" They who escaped the flood and the conflagra- 
tion were not more secure, for all nature seemed to 
fight against them. Heaven itself appeared to hurl 
its last bolt upon their sacrilegious heads, by in- 
creasing the cold to a degree that was almost intole- 
rable to the best defended ; but to those who had 
no covering it was suffering worse than the tortures 
of the rack. 

" It was at this crisis, when nearly deprived of the 
power of moving, they abandoned their guns, bag- 
gage, and arms, and throwing themselves upon the 
drifting snows, called on the blast to end their mise- 
ries. Then rising in frantic despair they ran howl- 
ing amongst each other, exclaiming aloud against 
their betrayer, and demanding death at the hands 
of their equally distracted companions. Thou- 



288 

sands of these poor wretches were nearly naked ; 
few had either shoe, or boot, or pantaloon to pro- 
tect then' freezing limbs. Many had endeavoured 
to shield them from the severity of the weather, by 
wrapping about them the raw hides they had strip- 
ped from their perished horses. Others covered 
their bodies with old matting, canvass, women's 
clothes, priests' vestments, or any other thing that 
might assist in sheltering their ematiated frames from 
the piercing wind, and a frost that seemed to cut into 
their souls. Happy was he who had been so lucky 
as to have purloined from the plundered country- 
man his winter sheep-skin, or saved a pelisse from 
the geperal pillage ! Officers and men shared in 
the same want of covering. The wretched frag- 
ments which decency would still wrap aroimd them 
were tattered into a hundred shreds ; but from the 
inclemencies of the iron season there was no shelter. 
Thousands became benumbed and stupified ; many 
dropped in silence into the grasp of death ; others 
moved on their gradually freezing bodies, moankig 
their pangs, and cursing the name of him and all 
his race who had brought them into such depths of 
unimaginable human sutfering. 

" Every corps, and every rank of officers, par- 
took of the general distress. The guards, once the 
proud favourites of their proudest chief, were alike 
the sport of the angry elements, were alike expos- 
ed to nakedness and privation. Their gay capari- 
sons were changed into loathsome rags ; and, a 
prey to every evil of squallid wretchedness, to hun- 
ger and to cold, they dropped down dead in heaps>, 
groaning out the reproaches their tongues were io9 
feeble to utter. 

" Defence was now totally out of the question. 
Flight, not escape, was their object ; for none pos- 
sessed within himself sufficient strength to promise 
him an existence of many hours. It was not life 
they sought, but relief from the agonies of fear. 
An unde^nable terror hung on the soul of the 



289 

famished wretch who, stretched on the chilling snowj 
called fervently on death to release him from his 
misery. Even in this state, let but the simple cry of 
ihe Cossacs ! be sounded in his ear, and it would be 
sufficient to arouse him to temporary energy : a 
thousand would partake his dread ; and suddenly 
spreading themselves in flight, they would every 
where darken the snows with their flying shadows, 
and fill the air with their despairing shrieks. In , 
this state, some thousands would be made prisoners 
to a band of perhaps no more than a hundred Cos- 
sacs. 

" The road on which this ruined army moved 
was rough with their dead, who, heaped on each 
other, shewed through the uneven surface of the 
snow their grisly and disfigured visages, their per- 
ishing and dismembered bodies, and all the horrid 
variety of death inflicted by want, and pain, and 
the sword. 

" Every bivouac^ at the dawning of morning, re- 
sembles rather the consequences of a sanguinary 
conflict than a night's rest. Cold and fatigUe be- 
numbed many into their last i-epose ; but scarcely 
did the hand of death close their eyes before they 
became a spoil ; nay, even whilst they yet breath^ 
ied, their comrades WoUld seize 6n their expiring 
bodies, and strip them of their ragged coverings t6 
defend themselves. Vast are the circles of the per- 
ished they leave behind them in these dismal night 
watches ; and Avhen they proceed in the morning, 
there is nothing before them but a similar fate* 
Desperate with cold they set every house and barn 
on fire in their way, in order to alleviate with the 
heat the pangs which rack their joints. But the 
expedient is fraught with new sufl^erings. Hun- 
dreds hasten to the blazing scene to enjoy a few mo- 
ment's warmth ; but not having strength to retire 
with sufficient speed from the influence of the 
flames when they become outrageous, they fall a 
prey to their fury, and the ruins of the burning 

37 



290 

bouses are siirroimded v/ith the expiring remains of 
their helpless consumers. Many of those who es- 
cape immediate destruction from the fire, scarred 
hy its flames, blackened in part by the smoke, and 
pale^ as the snow itself, range themselves like a host 
of ghastly spectres upon the lifeless bodies of their 
countrymen, and there remain in motionless apa- 
thy till the benumbing hand of death steals by de- 
grees upon their vitals, and they fall amid the icy 
and scorched corses of their comrades. 

" Numbers having their feet frozen and half mor- 
tified, were reduced to a state of complete help- 
lessness, and being left upon the road, were forced 
to abandon themselves to the death they might oth- 
erwise have averted for yet some days. In those 
days, now so cruelly cut ofl* from their chance of 
prolonged existence, some succour might arrive ! 
The idea alone seemed to speak a hope, of which 
they were irresistibly deprived ; and their despair 
broke out in cries of the bitterest anguish ; it was 
a lameatation of rifled existence, that paralyzed the 
hearer, and made him behold the unfathomable 
depth of the perdition into which the falsehood of the 
French leader had plunged his too confident follow^ 
ers. 

" Multitudes of these desolate fugitives lost their 
speech, others were seized with phrenzy, and many 
were so maddened by the extremea of pain aud hun- 
ger, that thev tore the dead bodies of their com- 
rades into pieces, and feasted upon their remains. 

" But I will not attempt a further enumeration of 
the varieties of human miseries I have seen. Only 
those v^ho have witnessed such extremes of distress, 
can form any idea of the horrors 1 have left yet un- 
told of the hideous spectacle exhibited between the 
Berezina and the Neimen, and whose parallel for 
miseries is not to be found in the annals of the 
world." 



291 



To be nearer tlie goal of his glorious race, in 
this career after the most ruthless enemy that ever 
invaded a brave people, Field-Marshal Koutousoff 
removed his head-quarters from Ilauenitai to Ko- 
vossino. He made the movement on the 4th of 
Decemben 

TchitchagofT continued in full pursuit, Milorado- 
vitch the same, and the main army followed with 
answerable zeal the steps of its advance. The di- 
vision under Count Ogerofsky, having proceeded in 
a parallel direction with its left wing, arrived in 
full force at the town of Volshine. 

Meanwhile, Buonaparte continued his flight; and 
«t Smorgoni, finding a favourable moment present 
itself for his complete disappearance, he appointed 
Murat his Lieutenant-General and Commander-in- 
chief of the army ; and then putting on a disguise, 
stole with Caulincourt into a wretched sledge, and 
proceeded over the snows as swiftly as his fears 
could carry him towards Warsaw. On the 7th he 
passed through Wilna with hardly a minute's de^ 
lay ; and on the evening of the 10th, sheltered his 
head in safety in the Polish capital ! The final es- 
cape of Napoleon was known to a very few only, 
for some time after it was effected ; but as he shot 
through Wilna he found it expedient to see Maret. 
The conference did not last many minutes, and 
then he departed with as much secrecy and haste 
as if a pursuer were in every gale. Thus did this 
presumptuous man, whom an infatuated people had 
raised to be their tyrant, and who, not content with 
the sovereignty of half Europe, aspired to univer- 
sal dominion ; thus did he pass from Russia the last 
<)bject of his ambition, in obscurity and dishonour ; 
and thus did he desert, in their extremest need, the 
people whom he called his subjects, and who had 
confided to him their liberties and their lives ! Tin- 



292 

fair and cruel as the French army were in their 
modes of warfare with the people of Russia, it is 
but justice to say that in no instance, till they were 
paralyzed by suffering, did the meanest individual 
in the French ranks shrink from meeting the foe ; 
and in every situation of peril, and desertion of 
their leader, did his Generals conduct themselves 
with the steady Talour of true soldiers. Buona- 
parte alone proved himself a slave in spirit. Had 
he possessed a soul worthy the confidence reposed 
In him, on the bridge of Berezma he would have 
died, 

Platoff, Tcbaplitz, and other Russian Generals, 
with their advanced corps, proceeded with great 
speed, gathering thousands of prisoners, cannon, 
baggage, and ammunition waggons, in their path. 
Large convoys of the latter, with provisions, had 
been dispatched from Wilna to meet the retreating 
French, and hence augmented the spoil of the -Rus- 
sians. 

When Platoff entered Oschimiani, he fell in with 
the remaining three thousand of Loisson's corps, 
which he instantly cut in pieces, and took from 
them twenty-§ve pieces of cannon. Near Smorgo- 
ni, Tchaplitz came up with the small pretensions to 
a rear-guard which the enemy had made ; he slew 
them to a man, and sixty-one pieces of cannon fell 
into his hands. Finding the road quite open, he 
next pushed on to Wilna, and arrived at its envi- 
rons on the 10th, He had the satisfaction of meet- 
ing at the same rendezvous large bodies of his brave 
countrymen, who had already reached it, under 
the commands of Sesslavin, Lanskoy, and other 
Generals who were fresh from a new victory gain- 
ed over a corps of French cavalry which had pre- 
sented itself before the town. Six guns and one 
standard had been taken in this affair ; but the vic- 
tors did not think themselves in sufficient force to 
follow up their advantage by pushing on to the city:^ 



293 

until they could be supported by Tchitchagoff 's 
troops. 

As soon as Tchaplitz came upon the ground he 
attacked the enemy in the suburbs, and, after some 
slight resistance drove them out in disorder, and 
filled their quarters with his own battalions. This 
stroke was decisive, for on entering the city next 
morning (the 11th) he found the last ranks of the 
enemy in the act of abandoning it. They had ta- 
ken their measures in such haste and confusion, that 
nothing had been destroyed. Yast magazines, filled 
with all kinds of stores, and upwards of thirty pie- 
ces of cannon, became the property of the Russians. 
The French sick too, in great numbers, were left to 
the mercy of their enemies. 

After the affair at Oschimiani, Platoff directed 
his rapid course to the left of Wilna, towards the 
Kovna road, spreading his Cossacs all over the 
country to the shore of the Niemen. The General- 
aide-de-camp Koutousoff adopted the same plan 
on the right of the city, stretching his people in the 
direction of Wilkomer, to prevent the escape of 
Macdonald's corps. 

Meanwhile the Admiral kept up close to his ad- 
vance-guard, and at the distance of a few wersts 
from Wilna made the following; report, dated No- 
vember 29th, O. S. (Dec. 11th, N. S.) 

"Ever since the 17th of November, (O. S.) I 
have with unceasing vigilance pursued the flying 
enemy, allowing him repose neither day nor night. 
During the first day or two our pursuit was a little 
phecked by his having broken down the bridges, 
but the exertion of a few hours restored us a pas- 
sage, and by forced marches we soon gained upon 
our object. The advanced-guard did not lose sight 
of him for an instant; coming up and defeating him 
continually in a variety of encounters ; daily taking 
from him numbers of cannon, and making priso- 
ners to the amount of some thousands, besides 



294 

forcing his harassed troops to march during th^ 
night. 

" From the passage of the Berezina, until the ar- 
rival of the Imperial troops at Wilna, we have our- 
selves taken one hundred and fifty pieces of can- 
non, more than seven hundred ammunition wag- 
gons, and so considerable a quantity of baggage, 
that the whole road for a great distance is covered 
with it. Two standards, with several Generals, 
and many thousand prisoners, are also in our 
hands. 

" The rear-guard of the enemy was attacked and 
destroyed, and the effects have been so^ serious to 
him, that ever since the utmost confusion and mur- 
muring has prevailed amongst his troops. They 
drop hourly from famine and fatigue, or in despair 
cry aloud to surrender. 

" The loss to the enemy is not less than thirty 
thousand men. The road is covered with killed 
and wounded, frozen and dying. The divine ven- 
geance fails so heavily on these barbarous wretches, 
that they become victims in hundreds to the flames 
themselves have lighted to destroy the dwellings of 
the peasantry ; and they are found frozen to death 
in the very houses they have sacked and despoiled 
of their doors and windows. 

" Our advance on entering Wilna did not allovt 
the enemy time to remove any thing from the city. 
Independent of all that has been mentioned before 
of our spoil, great acquisitions Avere madfe there in 
cannon and stores. Amongst the sick and wound- 
ed w^ho had been abandoned, were found several 
Generals : Saiontschiki and Lefebre are of the 
number. 

" My advanced-guard pursued the enemy without 
ceasing. General Tchaplitz has particularly distin- 
guished himself, as much by vigilance and indefati- 
gable zeal, as by his excellent military arrange- 
ments. 

" An aide-de-camp of Marshal Davousfs was 



295 

taken at Oschimiani, havino; been left by the Mar- 
shal to await the arrival of his rear-guard, and to 
ascertain the number of troops in pursuit. But 
tlie rear-guard having been destroyed, this young 
officer was surprised by seeing instead of it, the 
Kussian advance enter the town. He was in amaze- 
ment, and could not conceive what was become of 
the troops he expected. 

" The prisoners assure me that Napoleon can no 
longer conceal the critical state of his situation ; 
that the remains of the army, harassed with fatigue 
and starvation, do not merely murmur, but loudly 
threaten even to revenge themselves on the author 
of all these miseries. During the latter days of the 
pursuit, we have taken many of his guards. In- 
deed we are so near, that I have often occupied the 
same quarters which he had quitted but a few hours 
before. Several times he has not been farther from 
us than the interval which divided the cannonades 
between the respective rear and vanguards." 

The Admiral followed Tchaplitz with his main 
body, and next day the head-quarters of Kou- 
tousoflf, were established at Wilna. On the 8th they 
had been at l^iodetchino, on the 9th at Smorgoni, 
on the 10th at Oschimiani, and on the 12th at 
Wilna. 

No sooner were the troops of his Imperial Majes- 
ty entered into the city than they were hailed by 
the most rapturous acclamations. Z/ong live the 
Emperor Alexander ! resounded from every quar- 
ter ; and the inhabitants with the eloquence of na- 
ture, expressed their joy at being restored to the 
mild government of a just and beneficent prince. 

Two days after his arrival at Wilna, the field- 
marshal made the following statement to the Empe- 
ror Alexander. ^-^ ■ . 

«' Dec. 2d, O. S. 

14th, N. S. 1812. 

" On the occupation of Wilna by our troops on 



296 

the lOtli of December (N. S.) the enemy fled to^ 
wards Pogoulianka ; and Count Platoff, in ordef 
to cut off his retreat upon the Kovna road, entirely 
occupied that road with Cossacs, hussars, and dra- 
goons. Having allowed the first mass of fugitives 
to pass, he ordered Count Orloff-Denizoff to open 
a fire of musketry upon them ; while he, with a 
strong force, fell upon another multitude. He was 
seconded in this attack by the artillery under Prince 
Khoudescheff. The enemy being thus assaulted 
on all sides, nay, absolutely surrounded by heavy 
discharges of artillery and musketry, fell in masses ' 
Indeed the destruction was so complete, that only 
thirty officers, and one thousand men, were saved 
from the universal carnage. In this affair, twenty- 
eight cannon and a quantity of baggage, fell into 
the hands of the Cossac chief. 

" Ever since the occupation of Wilna by your 
Imperial Majesty's troops, I have been employed 
in restoring all things to their ancient order ; hence 
I have not had time to collect a particular statement 
of the stores found in the city. However, the quar- 
ter-master-general, Stavrakoff and General Bes- 
rodny, say that in some of the magazines which 
have been inspected they have found fourteen thou- 
sand measures of corn, five thousand measures of 
flour, besides an equal number of biscuit ; an im- 
mense quantity of uniforms, muskets, cartouch- 
boxes, saddles, cloaks, helmets, and other military 
necessaries. 

" Seven Generals were made prisoners in the 
town, namely, Yivier, Goasse, Normond, Guliot^ 
Lefebre, Ivonousky, and Saiontschiki ; with two 
hundred and twenty-five officers, and nine thousand 
five hundred and seventeen soldiers ! five thousand 
one hundred and thirty-nine sick, were found in the 
hospitals. 

" We are hourly collecting prisonets from the 
environs of the city. As reports are made to me. 



297 

I will not fall communicating them to your Imperial 
Majesty." 

The enemy had not nesflected to raise contribu- 
tions on the people of Wilna, according; to his usual 
custom in the places he honoured with his presence ; 
but as that city was the great link of communica- 
tion between his resources and his armies in the 
interior of Russia, it became the policy of the 
French leader to order the inhabitants to be treat- 
ed with a lenity in pecuniary respects that might 
sooth them into his interests. He also managed to 
hold them in awe of his colossal powder, by a con- 
stant concealment of the tremendous reverses it 
sustained in the series of his invasion. Conse- 
quently when the truth did burst upon these deceiv- 
ed people, by the sudden entrance of the Russian 
army, the effect was as striking as it was frought 
with safety and happiness to them all. 

The change was so great, that it seemed hardly 
the work of human agency. Only a few months 
prior to his shameful flight through this city, Napo- 
leon had occupied its palace, with an Imperial and 
military pomp never before equalled by the proud- 
est legitimate sovereign. Like Xerxes he beheld 
his hundred thousands pass in review before him ; 
but not like Xerxes did he shed any tears at the 
procession of a host, so few of which w^ere fated to 
return. An ambition, even more fierce than that 
of the Persian monarch, had dried up the sources 
of pity in Napoleon's heart ; rivers of blood had 
long washed aw^ay the purer drops from his relent- 
less eyes. The obdurate to others are generally 
the most weakly sensible to their own sufferings ; 
and it is hardly to be doubted, that he who had 
viewed the horrors of Moscow and the Berezina 
without compassion would, when lying a disguised 
fugitive at the bottom of a wretched sledge, find it 
possible to weep over the disappointment of his 
own pride. 

38 



In that moment, while hurried with fear and dis- 
honour across the Russian snows, how vain must he 
have found the boastings of his fancied omnipotence ! 
Where were his promises to restore Poland to her 
independence ? Where the universal empire he 
was to found on the ruin of that of the Tzars ? 
What was become of the loud thunders of his ar- 
tillery with which he vvas to proclaim his conquest 
and his dominion, from the shores of the Baltic to 
the boundaries of Asia ? And where those myri- 
ads of his own subjects, whom he had brought arm- 
ed at all points into Kussia, to subdue the people, 
and to cover themselves with spoils and military 
glory ? 

The whole had disappeared. The same all- 
powerful hand, Avhich had baffled the ambitious 
enterprizes of the Persian monarch, turned the 
plans and the vast preparations of the French Ru- 
ler into nothing ! His presumptuous dreams, and 
his thousands of armed men, were alike as if they 
had never been. 

Out of more than four hundred thousand men 
(including the Austrian force) not more than twen- 
ty-five thousand, exclusive of Swartzenburg's corps, 
repassed the IXiemen. Out of one hundred thou.- 
sand horses, scarcely one survived. More than 
one Inmdred thousand prisoners fell into the hands 
of tlie Russians, from the day in which the French 
army quitted Moscow, until its arrival at the Nei- 
men ; and above twelve hundred pieces of cannon ; 
for not one single gun was carried by the fugitives 
across the barrier stream. Thus did the very in- 
struments, with v^hich the invader intended to pro- 
claim his victory become the trophies of Russia in 
witness of having discomfited its enemy, and cover- 
ed its menaced land with the deathless laurels of 
patriotic valour. 

Such was the termination of this unparalleled at- 
tempt against the dignity of one of the most virtu- 



.299 

ous monarcbs that ever swayed a sceptre ; and in 
subversion of the happiness of a people, who loved 
liis equitable rule, and every day increased in po- 
litical wisdom and moral vigour. Russia, aware 
of her pivileged destiny, with one unanimous exer- 
tion, freed herself from the inroad of the Usurper 
and his emmissaries, and exulted in the contrast 
between her own magnanimous Emperor and the 
selfish aggrandisement of his opponent. She stood 
as Hercules, with Virtue on the one side and Se- 
duction on the other : behind the former, whose 
stern visage was armed in complete steel, devolv- 
ed rocks and ghastly precipices ; but beyond was 
the paradise of the gods. Around the latter bloom- 
ed a labyrinth of verdure ; but at the close of each 
enchanted thicket, yawned a treacherous gulph 
evergrown with sweets, that betrayed the trusting 
feet to bottomless perdition ! The Russian people, 
and the Russian Monarch, spurned the blandish- 
ments of the Deceiver, and destroyed with the 
vigour of true bravery his most formidable warfare. 
The Imperial Alexander, not satisfied with having 
achieved the independence of his own nation, gene- 
rously sounds the trumpet of liberty to the rest of 
Europe, and at the close of this eventful year, so 
propitious in its omen to mankind, and so glorious 
to Imperial virtue and to patriotic determination ! 
he thus addresses his invincible defenders ; and by 
that channel he would stimulate the world. 

" SOLDIERS ! 

" That year is gone ! That memorable and glo- 
rious year, in which you have levelled with the 
dust, the pride of our insolent Invader! That 
year is gone ; but your heroic deeds remain. Time 
cannot efface their remembrance : they are present 
with ourselves — they live in the memory of pos- 
terity. 

" The deliverance of your country from a host of 
confederate powers leagued against her very exist- 



300 

ence has been purchased by your blood. Yoa 
have acquired a right to the gratitude of Russia, 
and to the veneration of foreign realms. You 
have, proved to mankind by your fidelity, your val- 
our and your perseverance, that against hearts fil- 
led with love to God, and loyalty to their Sovereign, 
the efforts of the most formidable enemy are but 
as the furious waves of the sea breaking upon an 
immovable rock : after all the tumults, they leave 
but the confused sound of their own overthrow. 

Soldiers ! Eager to distinguish by some peculiar 
mark, all who have participated in these iunuortal 
exploits, we have caused silver medals to be struck, 
and to receive the benediction of our Holy Church. 
They bear the date of the memorable year 1812 ! 
Suspended to a blue ribbon they will decorate 
those manly breasts which have been the bucklers 
of their country. Each individual of the Russian 
army is worthy to wear these honourable testimo- 
nies, the reward of valour and of constancy. 

"You have all shared the sam^hardships and 
the same dangers. You have ^ihad one soul. 
This ennobling conviction should make you proud 
of these equal military honours. They will every 
where proclaim you — faithful sons of Russia ! Sons, 
upon whom God the Father bestows his paternal 
blessing. 

" May our enemies ever tremble, when they be- 
hold this insignia ! May they know that beneath 
this iriedal glows an imperishable valour ! Imper- 
ishable, because it is not founded upon ambition 
or impiety, but on the immutable basis of patriot- 
ism and religion ! 

(Signed) * " Alexander." 

"1813." 



NOTES 



ILLUSTRATIVE OF SUBJECTS REFERRED TO IN THE 
BODY OF THE WORK. 



NOTE I. II. III. [For Page 32.] 

1 HESE three patriots distinguished tliemselves at the beginning of 
the seventeenth century, after the death of Demetrius ; when the 
Poles on the one side, and the Cossac Zaroutki on the other, were con- 
tending for the supreme power, and rendering the empire a field of 
blood. 

Kozma-Minim, butcherer of Nijhi-Novogorode, formed the bold de- 
sign of collecting a body of patriots to oppose the factions of Sigis- 
mond and Zaroutzk. He assembled his fellow-citizens, exhorting them 
to sacrifice their whole possessions for the salvation of their country ; 
to sell all that belonged to them, for the sake of obtaining funds with 
which to support an army. His virtuous enthusiasm passed into the 
souls of all that heard him. The citizens of Nijhi-Novogorode did 
indeed strip themselves of every worldly possession ; but these sacrifi- 
ces were found inadequate for their great purpose. 

It was then that Palitzen, a monk eminent for his piety, called to- 
gether the holy brotherhood of his monastery, and with the most af- 
fecting eloquence conjured them to embrace real poverty, by volunta- 
rily bestowing the treasures of their community upon the new levies. 
The proposal was unanimously agreed to, and the money was deposit- 
ed in the hands of K9zma-Minim. 

Regarding this act as a testimony of the" Divine favour. Minim hast- 
ened to Pojarskoi, a Russian nobleman whose valour had been hon- 
ourably proved in many a victorious field, but who, now incapable of 
breasting singly the torrent that was overwhelming his country, had re- 
tired in despair to a small estate at some distance from Nijhi-Novogo- 
lode. 

When Pojarskoi was urged by Minim to arise from this unworthy 
despondency, and instead of deploring his country's wrongs, arm in 
her defence, the' brave veteran called on Heaven to witness that he 
was ready to perish for Russia, had he but the remotest prospect of 
heading even a handful of patriots animated with the same spirit. 

Minim then hailed him General of the brave band of JVijki-JVovo- 
gorode ! and laid at his feet the treasures entrusted to him by Palitzen. 
Pojarskoi received both with transport, and returning the treasure to 
Minim, beseeching him to take charge of its right distribution, he 
accepted a command which finally restored independence to the empire. 



302 NOTES. 

NOTE 11.— [For Page 92.] 
BUONAPARTE'S THIRTEENTH BULLETIN. 

Smolenzk, Aug. 31. 

The 16th, in the morning our troops covered the heights of Smo- 
lenzk, and that city exhibited to us a walled circumference of four 
thousand toises, ten feet in thickness, and twenty-five high, with 
towers at intervals, many of which were mounted with cannon of a 
very large size. 

On the right of the Boresthenes, the enemy's forces were seen hasti- 
ly marching back to protect the city, their Commander-in-chief, ha- 
ving received, as was know^n, repeated orders from his master to give 
battle in order to save Smolenzk. The Emperor having reconnoitered 
the place, made the following disposition of the army, which remain- 
ed in its disposition the 17th. The Duke of Elchingen had charge of 
the left, which was covered by the Boresthenes, the Prince of Eck- 
muhl, commanded the centre, and Prince Poniatofsky the right. The 
Imperial guard was stationed in reserve in the centre ; the Vice-Roy 
in reserve on the right, the extreme of which was protected by the 
cavalry under the King of Naples ; in consequence of having missed 
the road, a false movement was made by tlie 8th corps under the Duke 
of Abrantes. The 16tli and part of the 17th the armies remained in 
observation, a firing being kept up from the lines. Of the enemy, thir- 
ty thousand occupied Smolenzk, and the residue were posted on dje 
heights of the sliore, opposite the city, between which is a communi- 
cation by means of three bridges. Smolenzk, is considered by the 
Russians as a very strong city and the bulwark of Moscow. At two 
in the afternoon of the 1 7th, on perceiving that the enemy had not de- 
bouched, and that their commander notwithstanding the positive orders 
he had received, and the excellent position he could have taken, with 
his right resting on Smolenzk, and his left covered by the Boresthenes, 
was fearful of risking a battle, the Emperor hastened to the right, 
and ordered Prince Poniatofsky to change his front, and advancing 
with his divisions, his right protected by the Boresthenes, take posses- 
sion of, and fortify one of the suburbs and destroy the bridge to inter- 
cept the communication with the city from that quarter. At the same 
lime the Prince of Eckmuhl was directed to attack two of the suburbs, 
which the enemy had fortified at two hundred toises distance from the 
city, each of which was defended by seven or eight thousand infantry 
and a number of heavy cannon. General Count Friand also received 
orders to complete the investment, supporting his right by the corps of 
Prince Poniatofsky, and his left on the right of the attack of the Prince 
of Eckmuhl. At two in the afternoon. Count Bruyere's division of 
cavalry, having driven off the Cossacs and the enemy's horse, took 
possession of tlje platform next the upper bridge. A battery of 60 
pieces of cannon was immediately erected upon this platform and com- 
menced a fire with grape-shot, on that part of the enemy which had re- 
mained on the right shore and soon compelled the masses of Russian 
Lnfantry to evacuate that position. 



NOTES. 303 

The enemy then placed two batteries of twenty pieces of cannon in 
a convent, to silence that of ours which fired on the bridge. The 
Prince of Eckmuhl confided the attack of the suburbs on the right, to 
Count Morand, and that on tlie left to Count Gudin, 

At three, the cannonading commenced, at four, a very hot fire of 
musketry was opened, at five, the divisions of Morand and Gudin, pos- 
sessed themselves of the suburbs, which had been fortified by the enemy, 
with an uncommon degree of coolness and intrepidity, pursuing the Rus- 
sians to the covered way which was strewed with their dead bodies. 
On the left the Duke of Elchingen attacked the enemy's position with- 
out the city, took it, and pursued them as far as the glacis. 

At five, the communication betAveen Sraolenzk and the right shore 
had become difficult, and was kept up only by a few isolated individuals. 

Three batteries of tYrelves for tlie breach, were directed against the 
walls at six in the evening, one by Friand's division, and the others by 
those of Morand and Gudin. The enemy was dislodged from all the 
towers that he occupied by some howitzers Avhich set fire to them, while 
Count Sorbier, General of artillery, enfiladed him in such manner with 
his batteries, as to render it impossible for him to maintain his covered 
ways. 

At two in the afternoon, the Ilussians perceiving that we intended a 
serious attack on the city, sent over two divisions and two regiments of 
infantry of the guards to reinforce the four divisions in ihe city. These 
forces united composed one half of the Russian army. The action 
continued the wbole night ; the batteries in breach, kept up their fire 
with the greatest activity, while two companies of miners were em- 
ployed at the walls. 

At length the city was discovered to be on fire, and Smolenzk, in 
the middle of a night in August, offered to the French, a similar 
spectacle to that which an eruption of Vesuvius presents at Naples. 

An hour past midnight the Russians abandoned the city, and repas- 
sed the river. At two the grenadiers who mounted to the assault, met 
with no resistance. The place was evacuated : two hundred pieces 
of cannon and mortars of great size, and one of the finest cities of 
Russia, being thus left in our powder in sight of the v/hole of the ene- 
my's force. 

The battle of Smolenzk, for it is justly entitled to that appellation 
since one hundred thousand men were engaged on one side and the 
other, cost the Russians four thousand seven hundred men killed, from 
seven to eight thousand wounded, and two thousand prisoners, the 
most of Avhom w^ere wounded. Among the dead were found five Rus- 
sian Generals. On our part we lost seven hundred men killed and 
from three thousand one hundred, to three thousand two hundred 
wounded. The General of Brigade^ Grabouski, was killed, and 
Generals Grandeau and Dalton wounded ; all the troops vied with each 
other in intrepidity. The field of battle offered the spectacle of from' 
seven to eight dead Russians for one Frenchman, a fact prcveable by 
two hundred thousand persons who w^ere eye witnesses of it, notwith- 
standing the enemy were for a part of the 16th and ITth, entrenched 
and protected by the fire oi^ the battlements. 



304 



NOTES. 



On the 18th, the bridges over the Boresthenes, which the enemy had 
burned, were restored, but the fire in the city could not be got under 
until the 19th, though our sappers laboured with the greatest activity 
in extinguishing it. All the houses of the city are filled with dead 
and dying Russians. 

Of "twelve divisions, which composed the grand Russian army, tw^ 
were cut up and dispersed at the action of Ostrovna, two at that of Mo- 
hiloff, and six at Smolenzk. The Guard and two divisions of Ney, 
are the only ones which have sustained no loss. 

The displays of courage that have honoured the army in general, 
and distinguished so many individuals at the battle of Smolenzk, will 
be detailed in a particular report. Ne\'er did the French army mani- 
fest greater intrepidity than in this campaign. 



To prevent misapprehending who may be meant under these titles 
of Prince, Duke, &.c. a catalogue of the French General's names and 
their titles is subjoined. 



FRENCH. MARSHALS, GENERALS, &;C. AND THEIR TITLES. 



Joachim 
-JMaishal 
Marshal 
Marshal 
Marshal 
Marshal 
Marshal 



Marshal 

Marshal 
Marshal 
Marshal 

Marshal 
Marshal 
Marshal 
Marshal 
Marshal 
General 
General 



Murat 

Junot 

Victor 

Augereau 

Lefevre 

Davoust 

Ney_ - - 

Bcssieres 

Beauharnois 

Caulincourt 

Maret 

Champagny - 

Duroc (^dead) 

Mortier - 

Macdonald 

Oudinot 

Jerome Buonaparte 

Berthier [dead) - 

Massena 

Soult - 

Kellerman 

Marmont - 

Sebastian! 

Loison 

Rapp 



King of Naples. 
Duke of Abrantes. 
Duke of Belluno, 
Duke of Castiglione. 
Duke of Dantzig. 
Prince of Eckmuhl- 
Duke of Elchingen. 
Duke of Istria. 
Vice-Roi of Italy. 
Duke of Vizenza. 
Duke of Bassano. 
Duke of Cadore. 
Duke of FriuUi. 
Duke of Treviso. 
Duke of Tarente. 
Duke of Reggio. 
King of Westphalia. 
Prince of Neufchatel. 
Prince of Essling. 
Duke of Dalmatia. 
Duke of Valmy. 
Duke of Ragusa. 
Count of the Empire. 
Count of the Empire. 
Count of the Empire. 



KOTE III.— [For Page 164.] 

As tliere are people ill the habit of expressing doubts of tbe accuracy 
of the information which has hitherto represented the cruelties exercised 
by Buonaparte and his soldiers on countries and individuals in their 
power, it is a satisfaction to corroborate the truth of such representa- 
tions, by drawing together several witnesses bearing evidence of the 
same kind of acts committed by the same man and his followers in dif- 
ferent parts of the world. His soldiers perpetrated acts of atrocity 
while in Rrussia, too horrible for description ; and in the following 
letter, written by a distinguished British naval officer, and lately pub- 
lished in one of our own Gazettes, we find that the same spirit, and by 
the same agents, has been outraging human nature in a similarly «n- 
mentionuble manner in Spain* 

His Majesty's Ship SurveiUante, cff Castro. 
25th June, 1813. 

irV L0Rl>j 

1 have the satisfactioii of acquainting your Lordship, that the sup- 
plies of the garrison of Castro having been cut off by His Majesty's 
cruisers on this coast, and the total want of meat, obliged the Com- 
manding Officer to evacuate the Castle on the 22d instant, and retire 
to Santona. The Sparrow heaving in sight at the same moment obliged 
the Commandant to do this so precipitately as to prevent his destroying 
his artillery, and powder, or doing any mischief to the Castle itself. 

Captain Taylor very properly immediately garrisoned the Castle, and 
this day we have had a party of the army under General Mendezabel. 
I am sorry to say five-sixths of the town are in ruins, and that the 
dreadful barbarities committed by the French-Italian troops, as detail- 
ed by the few surviving old women, are too shocking to be made the 
subject of a public letter ; nor was the carnage of the French confined 
to the evening of the place being carried by storm. The inhabitants 
■who fled are now returning, but misery and poverty with them are at 
their summit. Fourteen of the savage authors of these excesses were 
taken at Bilboa since the evacuation, and deservedly put to death. 
I have now the pleasure of saying that the whole line of coast from 
Guaturiato Santona is evacuated by the enemy. 
I have the honour to be, &.c. 

(Signed) George R. Collier, 

To Admiral Lord, Keith, <^'C. 

[Vide Gazette, 3d July.] 



NOTE IV.— [For Page 172.] 

In the letters below of Buonaparte, (which Colonel Benkendorff 
intercepted by taking the courier who conveyed them) may be found 
a pretty accurate epitome of the Great JVapoleon's character, and 
drawn by his own hand. 

39 



305 NOTES, 

Inteiccpted letter from the Emperor Napoleon to (Maret) t)uke of 
Bassano, Minister for Foreign Affairs, dated Moscor/, October J 6th, 
N. S. 1812-. 

" MoNSIEUA ! DUEE OF Bassano ! 

" I have two Prussian regiments here, which have gallantly distin- 
guished themselves in the advanced-guard of the army, and of course 
thej liave suffered in the same proportion. Might not the King of 
Prussia raise two new regiments ? And then the regiments, of which 
I first spoke, might go back to Prussia and be recruited. In every- 
way the king will gain by this arrangement, as there will be a neces- 
sity for him to remount the regiments immediately, and by that means 
lie will increase his number of disciplined squadrons that have acquir- 
ed the habit of war. 

" I have given a fit direction to the Prussian contingent, by sending 
it towards Riga ; but I am very unwilling to have my seventh division 
employed in that quarter. I have therefore to require^ of the King of 
Prussia an augmentation of his contingent, by a thousand horse and 
six thousand foot, for the service against Riga ; so that the force as- 
sembled there may be equivalent to my seventh division. The King 
taay easily draAv these troops from Koriingsberg, Colberg, and Graud- 
enz, and by that means they may arrive in a few days. They may 
be replaced by others drawn from a distance. Thus the King of Prus- 
sia will have in line four thousand horse and twenty thousand foot. It 
cannot be difficult for you to make him comprehend, that his own inter- 
est should urge him to activity in this business, because the sooner this 
great struggle is over, the sooner will he be relieved from the necessary 
anxiety and exactions attending its continuance. 

" It is also good policy to show Russia, tliat in consequence of the 
great military resources we possess, not only in our states, but in those 
uf our allies, his hope of wasting away oUrarmy by degrees is unfound- 
ed and illusory. 

" You will use the same arguments to Austria, to Bavaria, to Staut- 
gardt ; indeed, they will do every where. I desire them not only to 
send their reinforcements, but I charge them to exaggerate the numbers 
of troops they send ; let double the number be given out. 

" I suppose yoil understand that the Prussian corps at Memel are not 
to be reckoned amongst the reinforcements. 

" I pray God to hate yon in his holy keeping. 

(Signed) " Napoleon." 



Buonaparte has not a greater enemy than a comparison of dates. 
They unmask his falsehood as soon as brought together. By compar- 
ing the twenty-ninth bulletin with the following intercepted letter, it 
will be seen how much is to be believed of his public account of the 
twenty thousand horses for remounting his dragoons, collected by 
General Bourcier from the diiferent depots early in December ; and 
also something will be seen illfistrative of the credit to be given to his 
assurance, in the same bulletin, that the artillery had repaired i.'s losses. 



NOTES. 307 

*' TO THE DUKE OF BASSANO. ♦ 

" Smolenzk, Nov. llth, N. S. 1812. 

*' Four despatches have arrived at the same time, so that I have all 
your letters up to the 7lh. 

" 1 am quite satislied with what you have done, in bringing the 
•thirty-fourth division to Kovna ; the only thing necessary now is, that 
it should be well supplied. General Loison tells me that he has made 
a purchase of six hundred horses for his artillery, and that the same 
dealer proposed bargaining with him for ten thousand more. Transmit 
this proposition to General Bourcier, in order that he may conclude the 
bargain if he finds the horses fit for the purpose. Tell General Bourcier 
that it is absolutely indispensable, that he n^ust augment his command 
with six thousand horse artillery and six thousand cavalry completely 
equipped, besides an equal number of draught horses. We are daily 
sustaining considerable loss by the frost and the extreme severity of the 
nights. It is useless for me to press upon you the importance of these 
purchases. General Bourcier ought to go as far as thirty thousand, and 
perhaps beyond that number. In short, he must only be limited by 
the impossibility of procuring so many of a good quality. Horses ! 
horses ! either for cuirassieuis, or for cfragoons, or light cavalry, or ar- 
tillery, or draught. It is the greatest want we have. Ten thousand of 
our dismounted dragoons will soon march towards Minsk. General 
Bourcier must give them the direction of Koningsberg and Warsaw, 
according to tiie places in Vv^hich they are to raceive the fresh horses. 
Be very careful not to suffer the least delay in this affair. Write to 
Prince Schwartzenberg, and make him feel the importance of hastening 
his movements. I have had an aide-de-camp of the Duke of Belluno's 
(Victor,) whom he left on the 9th. 1 have sent him back with positive 
orders. 

" I pray God to have you in his holy keeping. 

(Signed) Napoleon," 



NOTE v.— [For Page 190,1.} 

Captain Willoughby, of the royal navy, whose intrepid conduct at 
the capture of the Isle of France, is too well known and admired to 
need any further detail, being anxious to leave no interval unfilled by 
gallant actions, offered his voluntary services to the Emperor of Russia, 
while the frigate which his own sovereign had destined for him, was 
building in England t his Imperial Majesty granted this permission ; 
and Captain Willoughby went to Riga : but finding the service there 
less active than what his thirst for honourable distinction urged him to 
seek, he set off for the army of Count Vigtenstein. At the taking of 
Polotsk Captain Willoughby behaved with his usual intrepidity and 
ability ; and he might still have been pursuing his noble career, had 
not an act of generosity thrown him into the hands of the enemy. Ob-^ 



308 NOTES. 

sealring two Russian soldiers eruelly wounded, who were attempting tt» 
drag their bleeding limbs from the scene of slaughter, Captain Willough- 
hy dismounted, and calling on the Cossac that attended him to do the 
same, he placed the sufferers upon their horses, and was leading them 
away, when a party of French hussars surrounded and took them pri- 
soners. This action, so worthy of the British character, could not fail 
of meeting an answering feeling in the heart of the magnanimous Alex- 
ander : he directed a letter to be addressed immediately to the chief of 
the French nation, offering any French officer in his possession as an 
equivalent for our brave countryman : the only answer vouchsafed by 
the ruthless Buonaparte was " that no Englishman would be exchanged." 
This vehement hatred of the tyrant towards the English is one of our 
best testimonies of national virtue. He never found it possible to se^ 
duce or to subdue a spirit born in British land : and at this time his 
ambition was doubly racked by the report of Lord Wellington's victo- 
ries in Spain ; and his knowledge that the representative of the British 
monarch at St. Petersburgh, was not only a statesman of the first charac- 
ter, but a soldier eminent in talents and in fame. Buonaparte may 
sometimes flatter, but he cannot fail to hate the virtue that is opposet^ 
to him. 



NOTE VL— [For Page lie.] 
BUONAPARTE'S EIGHTEENTH BULLETIN. 

BATTLE OF MOSCVA (oR BORODINO.) 

Mojaisk, loth Sq>tember, 1812. 

On the 4th, the Emperor set out from Ghjaf, and encamped near the 
post of Gritneva. 

The 6th, at 6 o'clock in the morning, the army put itself in motion. 
At two in the afternoon we perceived the Russians formed with their 
right upon Moskvva, the left upon the height on the left bank of the Ko- 
logha. At 1200 tpises in advance of the left, the enemy begun to for- 
tify a fine height, between two woods, where they had placed nine or 
ten thousand men. The Emperor having reconnoitered it, resolved not 
to lose a momentj and to carry this position. Orders were given to the 
King of Naples to pass the Kalougha, with the division Compans and 
the cavalry. Prince Ponoiatofsky, who had marched on the right, was 
in a condition to turn the position. At four o'clock the attack com- 
menced. In one hour the redoubt was carried, with the cannon ; the 
enemy's corps driven from the wood, and put to flight, leaving the third 
part on the field of battle. At seven in the evening the firing ceased. 

On the 6th, at two o'clock in the morning, the Emperor surveyed th^ 
enemy's advanced posts ; the day was passed in reconnoitering. The 
enemy were m a position much contracted. Their left was weakened 
by the loss of the position the day before ; backed by a large wood. 



KOTES. 309 

supported by a fine height, crowned hy a redoubt, planted with twenty- 
five pieces of cannon. Two other heights, crowned with redoubts at 
one hundred paces from each other, protected their line, as tar as a large 
village, which the enemy had destroyed, to cover the ridge with artille- 
ry and infantry, and to support the centre. The right extended behind 
tlie Kalougha, in the rear of the village of Borodino, and was supported 
hy two line heights, crowned with redoubts, and fortified with batteries. 
This position appeared strong and favourabl-.. It was easy to mancfiuvre 
and to oblige the enemy to evacuate it, but that would have been re- 
pouncing our object, and the position was not judged sufficiently strong 
to render it necessary to avoid fighting. It was easy to perceive that 
the redoubts were but half formed, the fosse shalluw, and neither palli- 
sadoed nor defended with chevaux de frise. We reckoned the enemy's 
forces at about one hundred and twenty or one hundred and thirty thou- 
sand men. Our forces were equal, but the superiority of cur troops 
was not doubtful. 

On the 7th, at two o'clock in the morning, the Emperor was surroun- 
ded by the marshals in the position taken the evening before. At half 
past five o'clock the sun rose without clouds — it had rained the precede 
ing evening. " This is the sun of Austerlitz," said the Emperor. 
Though but the month of September, it was as cold as December in 
Moravia. The array received the omen — the drum beat and the foU 
lowing order of the day w^as read : — 

" SoLDIERSi ! 

" Behold the field of battle you have so much desired ! henceforth 
▼ictory depends qn you ; it is necessary to us ; it will give us plenty, 
good quarters for the winter, and a speedy return to our country. Be-- 
have yourselves as you did at Austerlitz, at Friedland, at Vitepsk, at 
Smolenzk : and that the latest posterity may speak of your conduct this 
day with pride, that it may say of you, " He was at that great battle 
under the walls of Moscow." 

" At the Imperial Camp on the heights of Borodino, 
7th of Sept. 2 o'clock A. M." 

The army answered with reiterated acclamations. The ground on 
which the army stood was strewed with the dead bodies of the Russians 
killed the preceding day. 

Prince Poniatofsky, who was on the right, put himself in motion to 
turn the forest on which the enerny rested his left. The Prince of Eck- 
muhl marched on the skirt of the forests, the division Compans at the 
head. Two batteries of 60 cannon each, commanding the enemy's 
position, had been constructed in the night. At 6 o'clock General Count 
Sorbier, who had armed the battery on the right with the artillery of 
the reserve of the guard, commenced the fire. General Parnetty, with 
thirty pieces of cannon, put himself at the head of the division Compans, 
(4th of the 1st corps) who skirted the wood, turning the head of the 
enemy's position. At half past six. General Compans was wounded, at 
seven the Prince of Eckmuhl had his horse killed. The attack advan- 
ced ; the musketry commenced. The Vice-Roy, who formed our left, 



310 NOTES. 

attacks and carries the village of Borodino, which the enemy could not 
defend ; the village being on the left bank of the Kologha. At seven 
the Marshal Duke of Elchingen put himself in motion, and under the 
protection of 60 pieces of cannon which General Foucher had placed 
the evening before against the enemy's centre, bore upon the centre. 
A thousand pieces of cannon spread death on all sides. 

At eight o'clock the positions of the enemy were carried, his redoubts 
taken, and our artillery croWned his heights. The advantage of position 
which the enemy's batteries had enjoyed for two hours now belonged to 
us. The parapets which bad been occupied against us during the at- 
tack, were now to our advantage. The enemy saw the battle lost, 
which he thought had only commenced. A part of his artillery was 
taken ; the rest was withdrawn to his line in the rear. In this extrem- 
ity he attempted to restore the combat, and attack with all his masses 
those positions whieh he was unable to protect. Three hundred pieces 
of French cannon placed on these heights, thundered upon his masses, 
and his soldiers died at the foot of those parapets which they had raised 
with so much labour and as a protecting shelter.. 

The King of Naples, with the cavalry, made various charges. The 
Duke of Elchingen covered himself with glory, and displayed as much 
intrepidity as coolness. The Emperor ordered a change of front, the 
right in advance ; this movement made us master of three parts of the 
the field oi battle. Prince Poniatofsky fought in the woods with vari- 
ous success. 

There still remained to the enemy his redoubt to the right. General 
Count Morand marched thither and carried them — but at nine in the 
morning, attacked on all sides he could pot maintain himself there. The 
enemy encouraged by this advantage made his reserve and his last 
troops advance to try his fortune again. The Imperial Guards formed 
a part of them. He attacked our centre, which formed the pivot to our 
right. For a moment it was feared they might carry the village, which 
was burnt — the division Friant advanced thither — 80 pieces of French 
cannon immediately arrest, and then annihilated the enemy's columns, 
which stood two hours in close order under the chain-shot, not daring to 
advance, unwilling to retire, and renouncing the hope of victory. 

The King of Naples decided their uncertainty. He caused the 4th 
corps of cavalry to make a charge, who penetrated through the breaches, 
which our cannon shot had made through the masses of the Russians, 
and the squadrons of their cuirassiers^-they dispersed on all sides. The 
General of division Count Caulincourt, Governor of the Emperor's Pages 
advanced at the head of the 5tli regiment of Cuirassiers, overthrew ev- 
ry thing, and entered the redoubt on tire left by its gorge. From this 
moment there was no longer any uncertainty. The battle was gained. 
He turned upon the enemy the twenty-one pieces of cannon which were 
found in the redoubt. Count Caulincourt, who had distinguished him- 
self in this fine charge, has terminated his career. He fell dead, struck 
by a bullet — a glorious death, worthy to be envied. 

It was two in the afternoon — the enemy had lost all hope — the bat^ 
tie was ended ; the cannonade still continued ; the enemy fought foy 
retreat and safety, but no longer for victory. 



NOTE&i 311 

The loss of the enemy is enormous ; from tr/elve to tliirleen thou- 
sand men, and from eight to nine thousand Russian horses have been 
counted on the field of battle ; sixty pieces of cannon and five thou- 
sand prisoners have remained in our power. 

We have had two thousand five hundred killed, and thrice that 
number wounded. Our total loss may be estimated at ten thousand 
men ; that of the enemy at from forty to fifty thousand. Never wa& 
there seen such a field of battle. Out of six dead bodies there were 
five Russians to one Frenchman. Forty Russian Generals were kil- 
led, wounded, or taken. General Bragation was wounded. 

We have lost the General of Division Montbrun, killed by a can- 
non-ball ; General Caulincourt, who was sent to occupy his place, was 
killed by a shot of the same kind, an hour afterwards. 

The Generals of Brigade Compere, Piauzonne, Marrion, and Hu- 
art, were killed ; seven or eight Generals were wounded, the most of 
them slightly. The Prince of Eckmuhl has received no injury. The 
French troops covered themselves with glory, and displayed their 
great superiority to the Russian troops. 

Such, in a few words, is a sketch of the battle of Moscva, fought a 
hw leagues in the rear of Mojaisk, and twenty-five leagues from 
B'loscow, near the little river Moskwa. We fired sixty thousand can- 
non-shot, which are already replaced by the arrival of eight hundred 
artillery carts, which passed Smolenzki previous to the battle. All 
the woods and villages from the field of battle to this place are covered 
with dead and wounded. We have found here two thousand killed or 
amputated Russians. A number of Generals and Colonels are privsoners. 

The Emperor was never exposed ; neither the foot nor horse-guards 
were engaged, or lost a single man. The victory was never uncertain. 
Had the enemy when driven from their entrenchments, not endeav- 
oured to retake them, our loss would have been greater than his ; but 
he destroyed his army by keeping it from eight o'clock till two, under 
the fire of our batteries, and in obstinately attempting to regain that 
which was lost. This was the cause of his immense loss. 

Every one distinguished himself. The King of Naples, and Dulce 
of Elchingen, were peculiarly conspicuous. 

The artillery, and particularly that of the guards, surpassed itself. 
The actions which have rendered this day illustrious shall be made 
known in detailed reports. 



NOTE VII.— [For Page 211.] 

BUONAPARTE'S TWENTY-NINTH BULLETIN. 

Molodetchino, Dec. 3,181 2. 

The weather was very good till the 6th of Nov. and the movements 
of the army was executed with the greatest success. The cold weath- 
er commenced the 7th ; from that time, we have lost every night many 



312 KOTES. 

hundreds of horses, which died while mounted on guard. Since oiitf 
arrival at Smolenzk, we have lost many horses belonging to the cavalrj" 
and artillery. The Russian army of Volhynie was opposed to our rightt 
Our right quitted the line of operations on Minsk, and took for it 
that of Warsaw. The Emperor was apprised at Smolenzk, on the 9th, 
of this change in the line of operations, and presumed how the enemy 
would act. — However difficult it appeared to him to put himself in mo- 
tion in this severe season, the new state of things compelled him to do 
so. He hoped to arrive at Minsk, or at least on the Berezina, before 
the enemy— he left Smolenzk on the 13th, the 1 6th he arrived at Kras- 
noy.-^The cold weather which commenced the 7th, increased daily* 
and from the 14th to the 15th and 16th, the thermometer was at 16 and 
18 degrees below freezing. [Reaumur.) The roads were covered with 
ice, the horses of the cavalry, artillery, and baggage, perished every 
night, not by hundreds but by thousands, particularly those of FraHC« 
and Germany. More than thirty thousand horses perished in a few 
days ; our cavalry were dismounted, our artilleryj and our baggage 
waggons were without horses. It became necessary to destroy a great 
part of our artillery, provisions and munitions of war. This army in 
so fine a condition the 6th was very different on the 14th, almost witb- 
out cavalry, without artillery, and without waggons — we could not guard 
without cavalry more than a quarter of a league — notwithstanding^ 
without artillery we could not risk a battle or maintain a position ; we 
must march, not to be forced to a battle, which the want of artillery and 
cavalry prevented us from wishing — we must occupy a certain space 
not to be turned, and that without cavalry which protects and unites the 
columns. These difficulties, together with extensive cold, rendered our 
situation distressing. Men whom nature had not gifted with that for- 
titude which places them above the frowns of fortune, appeared alarm- 
ed, lost their gaiety, their good humour, and saw nothing before them 
but m.isfortunes and catastrophes ; those whom she had created supe- 
rior to every thing, preserved their gaiety and ordinary manners, ahd 
saw a new glory in the various difficulties they had to surmount. 

The enemy who saw on the roads the traces of this awful calamity 
which attended the French army, sought to profit by it. They filled 
up all their columns vi^ith Cossacs, who carried off like the Arabs in the 
desarts, the carriages and train that were lost. This contemptible cav- 
alry, who make nothing but noise, and is not capable of breaking one 
company of voltigeurs, render themselves formidable by favour of cir- 
cumstances. Notwithstanding the enemy had reason to repent of all 
the L^erious enterprizes which they undertook. They were beaten by 
the Vice-King, and lost many men. The Duke of Elchingen, who 
with three thousand men composed the rear-guard, and scaled the ram- 
parts of Smolenzk. He was surrounded and found himself in a criti- 
cal situation — he extricated himself with that intrepidity which distin- 
guishes him. After having kept the enemy at a distance the whole of 
Sie 8tl), and constantly repulsed them, he made a movement at night, 
by the right flank, passed the Boresthenes, and disappointed all the 
calculations of the enemy. The 19th the enemy passed the Boresthe- 
nes at Orza and the Russian army fatigued after having lost many men, 
gave over this enterprise. The army of Volhynie had marched since 



NOTES. 313 

Ih6 16tli upon Minsk, and was going against Borisow. General Dom- 
brofsky defended the head of the bridge of Borisow with three thou- 
sand men. 

The 23d they were attacked and forced to evacuate that position. 
The enemy then passed the Berezina marching npon Boli, the division 
of Lambert compassing tlie van guard ; the second corps cominanded by 
the duke Reggio, who was at Teberein, had received orders to advance 
to Borisow, to insure the passage of the Berezina. The 24th tl)e Duke 
of Reggio encountered the division of Lambert, four leagues from Bo- 
risow, attacked and beat them, made two hundred prisoners, took six 
pieces of cannon, five liundred waggons of the baggage of Volhynie's 
army, and drove the enemy to the right bank of the Berezina. General 
Berthier, with the fourth Cuirassiers, distinguisiied himself by a hand- 
some charge, tbe enemy only saved themselves by burning the bridge, 
which was more than three hundred toises long. 

Nevertheless, the enemy occupied all the passages of Berezina, this 
river is forty toises broad, and was filled with floating ice, but its bor- 
ders were covered with marshes three hundred toises long, and which 
renders it a ditficult obstacle to overcome. The enemy's General 
placed his four divisions in different passes when he supposed the 
French Army would attempt a passage. The 26th, at day-break 
the Emperor after having deceived the enemy by divers move- 
ments made on the 26th, marched against the village of Studzianca, 
and caused likewise, two bridges to be thrown over the river, notwith- 
standing a division of the enemy were opposed,. The Duke of Reggio 
passed, attacked the enemy and kept them engaged two hours. Tlie 
enemy retired to the head of the bridge of Borisow, General Legrand, 
an officer of the first merit, was severely but not dangerously wounded, 
the army passed on the 26t.h and 27tii. The Duke of Bellune com- 
manding the 9th corps had received orders to follow the movement 
of the Duke of Reggio, to compass the rear guard, and to detain the 
Russian army of the Dwina which followed him. The division of 
Partonaux composed the rear guard of this corps. The 27th, at noon, 
the Duke of Bellune arrived with two divisions at the bridge of Studzi- 
anca. The division of Partonaux left Borisow at night ; one brigade 
of this division which formed the rear guard, and which was ordered to 
burn the bridges, set off at seven in the evening ; it arrived between 
ten and eleven o'clock, endeavoured to find its first brigade, and the 
General of division, who had set out two hours before. The search 
was fruitless-^they then became uneasy. All that we have been able 
to hear since is, that this first brigade set out at five o'clock, missed 
their way at six, took the right instead of the left and went two or three 
leagues in that direction, that in the night, and chilled with cold, it 
was roused by the fire of the enemy which they took for the French 
army. Thus surrounded, they must, have surrendered. This cruel 
mistake has Jost us two thousand infantry, three hundred horses and 
three pieces of artillery, it is rumoured that the General of the division 
was not with his column but had marched on ahead. All the army 
having passed on the morning of the 28tii, Duke of Bellune guarded the 
head of the bridge on the left bank, the Duke of Reggio with all the 
army were on the right bank. 

40 



314 l^OTES, 

Borisow having been evacuated, the armies of the Dwina and Vol' 
hjnie communicated, they concerted an attack ; the twenty-eigth at 
day break, tlie Duke of Reggio caused the Emperor to be informed 
that he was attacked ; in half an hour afterwards the Duke of Bellune 
knew it on the left bank, the army was under arms. Tlie Duke of 
E'lchingen went to the assistance of the Dulie of Reggio, and the Duke 
of Trevise followed him. The fight became brisk, the enemy wished 
to break our right, General Doumarick commanding the fifth division of 
Cuirassiers and composing part of the 2d corps who remained on the 
Dwina ordered a charge of the 4th and 5th of the Cuirassiers, at the 
moment when the legion of the Vistula was engaged in the woods tcr 
pierce the centre of the enemy, which was beaten and put to rout. 
Tliese brave Cuirassiers surrounded successfully six battalions of infan- 
try and put to rout the enemy's cavalry, which came to the assistance 
of its infantry ; six thousand prisoners, two colors and six pieces of 
cannon fell into our hands. 

The Duke of Bellune caused the enemy to be vigorously charged, 
made five or six thousand prisoners, and drove them out of the reach of 
the cannon of the bridge. General Fournier made a handsome charge 
of the cavalry. In the battle of Berezina the army of Volhynie suf- 
fered much. The Duke of Reggio was wounded, but not dangerously, 
by a ball which he received in bis side — The morning of the 29th we 
remained upon the field of battle. We bad two routes to choose ; 
that of Minsk and that of Wilna. The road to Minsk is through a 
forest, and uninhabitable marshes, and it would have been impossible 
for the army to subsist. The road to Wilna, en the contrary, is through 
a very fine country. The army, without cavalry, with but little am- 
munition, very much fatigued with fifty days march, bringing after it 
the sick and wounded of so many battles, required rest. The 30th, 
the headquarters were at Plechnitsi ; the 1st of December at Slaiki, 
and the 3d, at Molodetschino, where the army received the first con- 
voys frora^ Wilna. All the wounded oflicers and soldiers and every 
thing that encumbered us, such as baggage, &c. were sent to Wilna. 
The result of the exposition just made, is, that it is necessary for the 
anny to recruit itself, to remount the cavalry, to provide artillery, and 
obtain provisions. Its greatest want is rest. The provisions and horses 
have arrived. 

General Bourcier has already more than twenty thousand horses in 
the different depots. The artillery has repaired its loss. The gener- 
als, the officers and the soldiers have suffered much with fatigue and 
want. Many have lost their baggage in consequence of the loss of 
their horses — some by the ambuscades of the Cossacs. The Cossacs 
have taken many stragglers and engineers employed in making drafts 
and wounded officers who marched without precaution, preferring to 
run risk than march with the convoys. The reports of the General of- 
ficers and soldiers who have most distinguished themselves, are in the de- 
tails of these memorable events. In all his movements, the Emperor 
has marched in the middle of his guards, the cavalry commanded by 
Marshal Duke of Istria, and the infantry commanded by the Duke of 
Dantzic. His Majesty is satisfied with the good conduct that his guards 
have shown — ^tliey have always been ready to go where circumstance* 



l^OTES. 315 

lequiped — ^I)ut circumstances have always been such, that his simple 
presence has sufficed to inspire confidence and ensure success : 

The Prince of Neufchatel, the Grand Marshal, the Grand Master of 
the horse, and all the aide-de-camps and military officers of the house- 
hold of the Emperor, have always accompanied his Majesty. 

Our cavalry was so dismounted, that we could scarcely unite the 
■officers who had horses, to form four companies of 150 men each. 
The Generals performed the duties of captains, and the Colonels those 
of sub-officers. This squadron, commanded by General Grouchy, 
and under the direction of the King of Naples, never lost sight of the 
Emperor in all his motioiis. The health of his majesty was nevei- 
•better. 



NOTE VIII. [For Page 268.] 

When General Baron Vinzingorode, and his aide-de-camp Captaia 
Narishkin, were made prisoners at Moscow, in violation of every law 
civil or military, Buonaparte ordered them to be brought before him. 
The command being obeyed, the French leader, swelling with rage, 
•but with an air of triumph, addressed the Russian General (who is a 
Hessian by birth) — " Sir," cried he, " you are a traitor : I shall 
■send you back to your country to meet the fate your infamy merits. 
You should die instantly, but that I wish your countrymen to have the 
satisfaction of beholding such a traitor receive the reward of his crime." 

The Baron replied, with firmness, " Sir, I am no traitor, and, as 
a soldier, I never fear nor shrink from death, let it come in whatever 
form it may." 

" You, Sir," sa:id Napoleon, speaking to Captain Narishkin, " are 
of a brave family : I know the name well ; and I lament to see you 
have been taken with such a scoundrel as that." 

Soon after this conference, in which the manners of a true sans 
culottes, exhibited themselves under the Imperial purple, the illustrious 
prisoners were put together into a caleche, and forwarded, under an 
escort of gens d'armes, towards Grodno : from that place they were to 
proceed to Warsaw, and thence the Baron was to be dispatched to 
Hesse. The fiat of his enemy was to accompany him ; and his death 
would have added another to the list of innocent victims who had been 
treacherously taken and iniquitously butchered by the commands of the 
French despot. 

The escort had reached the government of Minsk, when at the skirt 
«f a wood one of the -wheels which belorxged to the carriage in which 
the prisoners were, gave way. The General and his companion were 
feoth asleep at the time, but the noise awoke Captain Nari&hkin, who, 
while looking out at the people remedying the accident, observed 
amidst the trees, the points of some pikes. He instantly aroused the 
General, and communicated what he had seen. His observation, and 
his consequent hopes, were true ; for immediately some Cossacs pre- 
sented themselves, and moved forward unobserved by the gens d'armea. 



316 NOTES* 

Vinzingorode put himself forward in the carriage, and placed him- 
self so that the heroes of the Don saw his Imperial star. A glance 
was sufficient : thej charged the escort : a few minutes decided the 
contest ; the French took refuge in the woods ; and the Russian Gene- 
ral and his aide-de-camp were, in perfect safety, in the hands of 
Colonel Tchernicheff and his brave little band. 

On their arrival at tlie head-quarters of Count Vigtenstein, the Bar- 
on, together with Narishkin and other prisoners of consequence whom 
the Cossacs had set free, set off for St. Petersburgh. 

Baron Vinzingorode, who hardly believed himself liberated till he 
was again in the track of glory, soon after re-joined the army, and is 
now commanding a large division against his enemies on the Banks of 
the Oder. 



Having given an instance of the greatness of mind with which a 
Russian officer could reply to the domineering insolence of the French 
Ruler, I cannot refrain from adding to it one proof out of many of a 
similar spirit existing amongst the lowest subjects 

A party of French marauders entered the cottage of a poor peasant, 
in search of plunder and provisions. When they had seized every 
thing dead or alive, even to the very cat, one of the brigands took the 
left hand of the honest Russian, and with a staining liquid marked on 
it the letter N. The boor seeing the figure, demanded what it meant ; 
upon which one of the soldiers, who was a PoJe^ replied, " It is the 
initial of the French Emperor, and by that mark you are become his 
subject. On hearing this the high-spirited Russian drew his axe from 
his sash, and laying his arm on the table, in an instant, and at one 
blow, left the disgraced hand, covered with blood, before the eyes of 
the astonished soldiery. " There," cried he, " take what belongs to 
the French Emperor, if it is his ! But still my heart and my body 
belong to my own sovereign, and will ever serve him with fidelity." 



NOTE IX.— [For Page 287.] 

From such multitudes of the enemy being made prisoners by the 
Russians during this retreat, the duty of conducting them into the 
interior was transferred from the soldiers to the armed peasantry. The 
devastation which the invaders had caused presenting itself at every 
step to their conduciors, did not tend to soften their minds towards the 
distresses of their captives : and therefore there was not often great 
pains taken to preserve them from the fatal effects of their situation. 
Indeed to have afforded adequate comforts for so vast a body, would 
have required resources which, considering the rapidity of the defeat, 
could not come into the calculation of the victors to prepare. The 
consequence was that the fatigue of marching by day, and the cold of 
the nights, every hour lessened the number of prisoners. Not. having 
room in the inhabited dwellings for them, they were usually put un- 



NOTES. 317 

til dawn into the half-destroyed out-buildings which lay in the way of 
their destination. And here hundreds would be found each morning 
stiffened to death by the severity of the frost. By these means nearly 
three parts of the original number of prisoners miserably perished. 

Of the 25,000 fugitives who reached the opposite side of the Nei- 
men, many of them also fell into the hands of their pursuers ; and 
those who did escape into Poland, were soon after seized with diseases 
incident to their sufferings, which either numbered them with the dead, 
or completely disabled most of them from future service. 



NOTE X. — [Referred to in the latter pages of the narrative.^ 

The twelve hundred pieces of cannon taken from the French, during 
these latter days of their flight from the theatre of their most iniquitous 
aggression, are to be erected into a monument of the invincible cour- 
age which repelled the outrage, and of the favour of the Almighty Pow- 
er which drove the invaders over the barriers of the Empire. 

The celebrated Chevalier Quaringy, the Imperial architect, who has 
already given so many proofs of his talents to the capital of Russia, 
has presented a design for this mernorial of patriotism and military 
glory : he proposed that the whole of the captured artillery should be 
taken to Moscow, and piled up into a vast pyramid, surmounted with 
a brazen statue of Victory. The idea is simple and sublime. 

Greatness of thought in simplicity of expression is characteristic of 
the Russians. They have a medal, which was struck by Catherine II. 
in commemoration of the battle of Tchesma. Its device is the ene- 
my's fleet on fire, and the inscription the Russian word which signifies 
*' It was." It has been suggested to carry the same irapresse to the 
monument of French guns, which, as the remains of the Grand Army^ 
must ever stand as a memorial of what " it was." 

The great, the pious Alexander, in acknowledgment of the power 
■whence alone he derives his glory, in a ukase, dated Wilna, December 
25th O. S. issues his orders that the foundation-stone of a new church 
shall instantly be laid in Moscow, and that it shall be dedicated to 
Christ the Saviour. He adds that he trusts it will continue a perpetual 
monunient, to future generations, of the deliverance of Russia, and of 
the magnanimity and devotion of its people. 

His Imperial Majesty likewise ordained that a patriotic offering 
made by the Holy Synod should immediately be appropriated to its 
intended purpose. It consisted of a fund of 3,500,000 roubles, to be 
set apart for the repair of the cathedrals, monasteries, parish churches, 
and school-houses, which have been destroyed in the Kremlin, in 
Moscow, and in the other cities of the government where the enemy 
principally committed ravages. This treasure is also intended to fur- 
nish relief to priests and preceptors, and to such ecclesiastical semina- 
ries as have suffered by the invasion of the French. 

The glorious issue of the Russian campaign, even more than answer- 
ed the high expectations which the patriot nation of Spain had formed 
of its termination. The sentiments of the Spanish Reg;ency are so 



318 NOTES, 

worthy of themselves, and of the noble people whose cause was that ot 
all Europe, that I cannot resist concluding this note with their address 
on the struggles and hopes of Russia, to their brave countrymen en- 
gaged in the same contest. 



PROCLAMATION OF THE REGENCY OF SPAIN TO 
THE SPANISH NATION, 

Spaniards ! 

The Emperor of Russia, Alexander, a prince who dunng the few- 
years of a peaceful reign, had rendered himself celebrated for his 
virtues and the idol of all hearts throughout his vast dominions, and 
who, from tlie generosity of his feeling and liberality of his views, 
appears to have been destmed by providence to ameliorate the con- 
dition of the human race, could not be persuaded that a man who 
might have added to his name the glorious title of the benefactor of 
nations, who so often in his writings, in his conversation, in his per- 
sonal interviews with Alexander himself, professed to be actuated by 
the same wishes, and convinced of the truth of the same principles, 
could, under these appearances, have concealed the heart of a Nero, the 
treachery of a Tiberius, and the ferocity of an Attilla, with a disposi- 
tion to become the execration of all mankind ; But his continual viola- 
tion of treaties, his constant acts of aggression towards kings and na- 
tions, in order successively to dethrone the one and subjugate the other, 
his barbarous system of warfare in carrying robbery and devastation 
into all parts, have at length convinced the generous and magnanimous 
Alexander, that it was his duty to become the protector of liberty and 
civilized society not only in tiie North, but also in the South of Eu- 
rope. 

It is in this light that we ought to view him considering the treaties 
lie has formed ; his alliance with Spain, his acknowledgment of the 
Cortes, of the Constitution and of Ferdinand VII. who is to reign in 
conformity to it, are the sure guarantees of our freedom. Alexander, 
whose heart is so noble, is so elevated, and whose virtue could not even 
form a conception of his enemy possessing that depravity necessary to 
have plotted such dark and horribly infamous perfidies as those which 
he has practiced towards our beloved sovereign, seized with indigna- 
tion as the veil was torn from his eyes that concealed such horrid crimes 
And treachery, and feeling interested for the firmness and heroic loyalty 
of the Spaniards, will doubtless be as constant and unshaken in his 
aoble undertaking to rescue Spain, as his faithful Russians in second- 
ing the wishes of their magnanimons Emperor, and of sparing no sac- 
rifice to secure the triumphs over the common enemy, and deliver hu- 
manity from the greatest of scourges that has ever overwhelmed the 
civilized world. The Regency will not pretend to dwell on all the 
benefits that you may reasonably expect from the undisputed valour .of 
the Russian soldiery^ 



IVOTES. 319 

The recollection of the frequent humiliations which it caused t© 
Frederick the Great, is not yet effaced ; nor of its rapid victories so 
often won in Italy over tlie proud legions of those fickle slaves who 
then assumed the name of Republicans, nor the dreadful lesson which 
it gave them at Eylau and on other fields of battle, when having dis- 
carded that appellation, they assumed the one of humblers of tyranny. 
Even now do we again hear the report of its first exploits against the 
same enemies, commanded as they were then in Poland, by the mad- 
man who wishes to be thought invincible. 

If in the history of national emigrations we should seek for reasons 
to account for the resemblance of character between the Russians and 
the Spaniards we might a-sign some very probable causes, but what it 
imports us to know, is that the Russian, like the Spaniard, is firm and 
religious ; that he possesses a sprightliness of character superior to 
that of other nortliern nations of Europe, and that governed and con- 
ducted by a Prince as great as Alexander, he will continue unshaken 
in the noble enterprize of opposing the common enemy, of pursuing 
him and consolidating our liberty and our glory. On our part the 
efforts and sacrifices which remain for us to make will not be inferior 
to those which we have already made with such firmness, and for so 
long a time, that they have at length produced the triumphs of our 
allies and the period of our hopes. 

(Signed) The Duke De L'Infantado, 

Cadiz, September l$t, 1812, 



320 



JfOTES. 



NOTE XL 



The following military returns are selected from a number of others 
equally proving the severe losses which the French army sustained in 
its Northern campaign. The original documents were never intended 
by Napoleon for the public eye, but were taken with other papers by 
Count Vigtenstein's cavalry after having driven tlie fugitives across the 
Neimen. 



to 



^ 



"^ 



1-3 



I.? 



^1 Officers 


?r rc ? 3 c up 


- 


(^ Under Officers 
^ and soldiers 


3 a i, 3 5 (T> 
N a 2. « i^ 23 

te- O t' fD ft) 

• ' cr^ 8 -^ s 


1 Officers 


Killed 
on the 
field of 
battle. 


r 
c 

ir. 

GO 

z 

r 

> 

< 

Q 
w 

O 

r 
w 
"^ 

N 


05 


Under Officers 
and soldiers 




Officers 


Wound- 
ed, who 
were not 
able to 
follow, 
but left 
in^he 
power of 

the 
enemy. 


Under Officers 
''^ and soldiers 




Officers 


Died of 
cold or 
fatigue. 


en 
CO 


Under Officers 
and soldiers 


-1 


Officers 


Left be- 
hind, fro- 
zen, or 

from 
sickness 

or fa- 
tigue, are 
supposed 
to have 
fallen into 
the hands 
of the 
enemy. 


-4 


Under Officers 
and soldiers 


::^| Officers 


U5 W^ 


to 


Under Officers 
and soldiers 


J-S 


Officers 


Present 
under 
arms. 


o 


Undev Officers 
and soldiers 








?3 
n 

3 

en 



to 



'^ 



CO s 



5? 



iirotEs. 



321 



^ Officers 1 


CO o g 

B 3 5 HH 


1 


o 


Under Officers 

and 

soldiers 


'resent 
jer arms 
leaving 
(lolenzk. 


1 Officers j 


Killed on 

the field of 

batUe. 


s 

CO 

CO 

W 

CO 
CO 

O 

> 
< 

Q 

CO 

O 

IS 


ox 


Under Officers 

and 

soldiers 


1 Officers 


Wounded, 

who were 
not able to 
follow, but 
left in the 

power of . 
the 

enemy. 


63 


Under Officers 

and 

soldiers 


1 Officers 


Died from 
cold and : 
fatigue. 


^ 


Under Officers 

and 

soldiers 


o 


Officers 


Left behind 
frozen, or 
from sick- 
ness or 
fatigue, . 
supposed 
to have 
fallen into 
the hands 
of the 
enemy. 


4^ 


Under Officers 

and 

soldiers 


O 


Officers 


in 


05 


Under Officers 

and 

soldiers 


-a 


Officers 


V re 
R 2- 

CO 




to 

■~3 


Under Officers 

and 

soldiers 






, 




pi 

m 

3 

CO 



H 


&t< 




? 

R 


O 


-« 


^ 


55- 


H 


>—>■ 


a 


c9^ 










H 


<?*. 


K 


a. 
o 


o 


s 


'11 




w 




P5 




o 




M 


''I 




^ 


p] 


ST- 


JS 


to 


CO 


c^ 


>-* 





41 



322^ 



isroTES. 



r 






21 : Officers 



Under Officers 

and 

soldiers 



c 

S- ft, ►< CO 



2 P2 
^5 



B § 



crq to 



Officers 



Under Officers 

and 

soldiers 



fo o '^^ 



•t' |. Officers 



Under Officers 

and 

soldiers 



^ « ^ = . j_. ^ 

o c" ^ _. "^ S 
•^ S c o fo p- 



I Officers 



Under Officers 

and 

soldiers 



S. 2- 2 
w' c- fS* 

fO o. 

*< a o 



^j Officers 



Under Officers 

and 

soldiers 



3 O 



5- £L 



Bj S o rt> -?^- 3 









O fC 

3 b: 



^31 Officers 



Under Offixers 

and 
> soldiers 



l^j; Officers 



[Under Officers 
J and 

I soldiers 



S-^ 



o 

CO 

cc 



O 

<: 



o 

N 



!3:^ 



NOTES, 



323 



2 

I 



09 



Officers 



I Under Officers 
and 
soldiers 



B ^ 5 ^ 

2- a> 0) S 

rt> W "^ CO 

►3 ■< 513 (t> 



en 



wj Officers 



Under Officers 

and 

soldiers 



?t °- 



»«j Officers 



Under Officers 

and 

■soldiers 



<D 



2!§ ^ 



Co O c-K -IT- <-T- cr- 



Officers 



Under Officers 

and 

soldiers 



0«? flj 



►-] Officers . 



Under Officers 

and 

soldiers 



o 

S- c "■ 2. o 

=^■1 s? ^. r ^ 

w n> 2 



^ » |g.j§ 2^ § K 5 I 



«l 



Officers 



Under Officers 

and 

soldiers 



o 



Officers 



O 

a 

H 

O 
IT 



Under Officers 

and 

soldiers 



Cu >T3 



»3 O 



8 



=5 a. 



-» i:^ 






I— I ra 








Officers. 


Men. 


4th regt. 


- 29 -. 


232 


6th regt. 


-^ 27 - 


470 


6th regt. 


- 31 - 


300 


4th regt. 


V. 32 - 


427 


Total 


11.9 


1,449 



324 NOTES, 

Thus these four regiments 
on quitting Smolehzk had pre- On the 16th and ICthof 

^eat under arms : December. 

Officers. Men. 

- - - - 12 - - 10 
-. , - - 17 - - 24 

- - . ^ 14 - - 10 
, ... 26 - - 29 

Total 69 73 

In so short a period the loss to this small part of the army amounted 
in officers to fifty, and in men to 1,376. 

By the above document we see how greatly Napoleon's private ac- 
counts differed from his public reports ; and how very wide the latter 
were from the fact, is now generally known in the present seat of war. 

In the 15th number of a periodical work published at St. Peters- 
burgh, entitled " Sons of their Country," we find an entertaining es- 
timate of the Russian and French losses, during the late campaign : 
the following result is drawn from twenty -nine of the French Bulletins. 

" According to Napoleon, the loss of the Russians amounted to 
40,528 killed ; 70,810 wounded; and 67,269 made prisoners: ma- 
king a total of 178,607 men, besides 82 Generals, 1167 pieces of 
cannon, and two standards. 

The loss of the French, on the contrary, consisted but of 1,198 
killed; 18,317 wounded ; and 3,170 taken prisoners; amounting al- 
together to 27,685 men ; it lost also, 33 Generals, 115 cannon, 30,000 
horses, and 2,138 empty ammunition waggons. We must recollect 
that Napoleon was generally acknowledged to have entered Russia with 
480,000 men ; deducting the above-mentioned loss of 27,686, there 
remains 452,315 : — ^by supposing that about 20,000 men had the good 
fortune to reach Berlin, Thorn, Dantzic and other places, what has 
become of the remaining 432,315 men ? Thanks to the able disposi- 
tions of their Great Captain, they are all starved to deaths either hy 
cold or hunger ! 

" Yet further : — Napoleon brought with him, at least 1200 pieces of 
artillery ; by adding to them the 1,157 which he professes to have taken 
from the Russians, he must have had altogether 2,357 : he owns howev- 
er that he lost 115 ; pray may we not ask what he has done with the 
otlier 2,242 ? Very likely they are to be found in the grand depot of 
67,269 Russian prisoners ; (not ten thousand of which have been $eea 
to cross Germany) that is to say — in the Russian army .'" 



A NARRATIVE 

OF THE EVENTS WHICH FOLLOWED BUONAPARTE's 

CAMPAIGN IN RUSSIA TO THE PERIOD OF 

HIS DETHRONEMENT. 



At the termination of the year 1812, the power 
of Napoleon Buonaparte had received the shock 
from which it never recovered. The destruction 
of human life in that memorable year is unparal- 
leled in the records of our globe. The havoc and 
suffering in the south of Europe, though in them- 
selves enormous, are lost, and the whole attention 
of the observer is occupied by the cotemporaneous 
events, so stupendous in magnitude and character, 
so momentous in their consequences, which were 
passing in the north. 

We have seen the vanquished emperor deserting 
the wreck of his mighty host, and flying recreant 
towards his capital ; while the victor, from Wilna, 
on the first day of the ensuing year, issues his con- 
gratulations to his triumphant armies and subjects 
rescued from a foreign master. But still much was 
to be done ; and the events which followed the cam- 
paign in Russia are no less worthy the pen of the 
historian and the admiration of mankind. The in- 
tention of the present writer is to give a brief chro- 
nological narrative of the important transactions in 
the north of Europe and in France, which termina- 
ted in the abdication of the French Emperor, 

The first public act of Napoleon Buonaparte af- 
ter his return to Paris, is his address to the depu- 
ties of the legislative body of the empire. He 
tells them, with rather a greater mixture of truth 
than the rulers of Europe usually display in their 



326 

communications to their subjects and the world, 
that he has met with great reverses 6f fortune, and 
sustained severe losses ; he asserts that " the French 
dynasty will reign in Spain," and " the Russians 
re-enter their frightful climate :" he announces his 
satisfaction with the conduct of all his allies, and his 
determination to defend them ; he calls upon hi$ 
people to make every sacrifice rather than submit 
to a bad peace, which would cause the loss of" all, 
even of hope ;" and concludes by sayings " I have 
need of great resources to meet the expenses which 
circumstances exact, but notwithstanding the differ- 
ent means which my minister of finance will pro- 
pose to you, I hope not to impose any new burdens 
on my people." 

While Napoleon was assuring his people of his 
confidence in his allies, those allies were taking 
measures to make their peace with the conqueror, 
and to secure a portion of the spoil which a contin- 
uation of the war against Fi-ance promised. The 
King of Prussia Avas the first to reconcile himself to 
Alexander the liberator, who cut asunder the bonds 
which united him to France, and engaged with the 
same sword to defend him from the vengeance of 
Napoleon. The monarchs of Russia and Prussia 
agreed to unite their late hostile legions against 
their brother of France, and the Prussian Ambassa- 
dor, M. the Baron de Krusemarck, made known 
this league, offensive and defensive, to the French 
court on the 27th of March, 1813,. 

The Prussian manifesto is long, enumerates many 
subjects of complaint, as is usual on these occa- 
sions, and concludes with this paragraph : " In such 
a state of things, it could not long remain doubtful 
what part the king should take. For years past he 
had sacrificed every thing to the preservation of 
his pGlitical exjstencie ; now France herself puts at 
hazard this existence, and does nothing to protect it. 
Russia has the power to aggravate his misfortunes, 
and yet generously offers to defend him. The 



327 

king cannot hesitate. Faithful to his principles and 
his duties, he joins his arms to those of the Empe- 
ror Alexander, changing his system without chang- 
ing his object. He hopes by breaking with France, 
and attaching himself to Russia, to obtain by an 
honourable peace, or by the strength of his arms, 
the sole object of his wishes, the independence of 
his people, tlie benefits which result from it, and the 
inheritance of his fathers, the one half of which has 
been wrested from him. The king will adhere with 
all his power to all the propositions conformed to 
the common interest of the sovereigns of Europe. 
He ardently desires that they may produce a state 
of things in which treaties shall be no longer mere 
truces, in which power may become the guarantee 
of justice, and every one, confining himself to his 
natural rights, may be no longer tormented in all 
the points of his existence by the abuse of force." 

There is certainly much truth and wisdom in this 
paragraph, containing a profound political lesson to 
rulers and people ; and the desires of his Prussian 
majesty are most^natural to a little despot like him- 
self, surrounded by great ones. 

The Duke of Bassano, on the 1st of April, 1813, 
answered the Prussian manifesto in a style of bit- 
terness the more caustic from its constant recurrence 
to facts. He begins, " Prussia solicited and con- 
cluded an alliance with France in 1812, because the 
French armies were nearer the Prussian states than 
the Russian armies were. Prussia declares in 1813 
that she violates her treaties, because the Russian 
armies are nearer her states than the French armies 
are ;" and then proceeds to take a retrospective 
view of the fluctuating conduct of the King of Prus-^ 
sia from 1792 to the present time, concluding with 
threats of chastisement. 

In the mean time, the then pretender to the throne 
of France, residing at Hartwell, in England, with 
great political wisdom, under the title of Louis 
XVni. issued an address to " Ms oppressed sub- 



328 

jects." In this paper Louis acknowledges his in- 
ability, and pretends that he has no inclination to 
obtain the throne of France but through the wishes 
of the people. He reiterates assurances formerly 
made, that the administrative and judicial bodies 
shall be maintained ; that those holding places shall 
retain them ; that all prosecutions for acts commit" 
ted since the revolution shall be prohibited ; that 
the present code of laws shall be continued ; that 
the present holders of lands shall be unmolested ; 
that the organization of the army in all its grades 
shall be maintained, and the conscription abolished. 
Bernadotte, who, under the title of Crown Prince, 
is the actual monarch of Sweden, though elected to 
this dignity by the intrigues of Buonaparte, seems 
to have acted exclusively for the benefit of himself 
and the people over whom he had become the ruler. 
Foreseeing the danger to Sweden from the power 
of Russia, he is supposed to have aided Russia se- 
cretly, by his advice, against France, and it has 
even been asserted that the Russian plan of the last 
great campaign was suggested by him ; he, howev- 
er, in the uame of Charles XIII. now openly broke 
terms with his former master, and prepared to march 
the Swedish conscripts (for the French system of 
conscription Avas fully established in Sweden) to the 
aid of the Russian autocrat. By a treaty signed in 
the names of the Kings of Great Britain and Swe- 
den, at Stockholm, on the 3d of March, 1813, Swe- 
den engages to send thirty thousand men under Ber- 
nadotte to operate in Germany against France; 
England on her part assenting to the annexation of 
Norway to the crown of Sweden, Russia having* 
by a previous treaty, agreed to give that country, 
belonging to Denmark, to Sweden, and to conquer 
it for her if necessary. England likewise engages 
to pay Sweden one million sterling, and give her 
the Island of Guadaloupe. 

Thus the despot of France saw the coalition 
against him strengthening daily in consequence of 



329 

his Russian defeats and disasters ; but he on his 
part was not inactive in calling forth the mighty re- 
sources of the great nation over which he ruled with 
a rod of iron. The plans adopted by the French 
government put at the disposal of the emperor an 
army of four hundred thousand men for the Elbe, 
and two hundred thousand on the Rhine, beside fil- 
ling up the armies of Italy and Spain. 

The report of the minister of exterior relations to 
the emperor and king, when speaking of Prussia, 
says, " the defection of General D'Yorck called 
the enemy into the states of the King of Prussia, 
and compelled our armies to evacuate the Vistula 
and proceed to the Oder. Prussia, to disguise her 
intentions, offered to furnish a new contingency. 
She had in Silesia, and on this side the Oder, a suf- 
ficient number of troops already formed and of cav- 
alry which would have been so useful in opposing 
the light troops of the enemy. But she had deci- 
ded not to keep her promise. The king abandoned 
a residence in which he was covered by the Oder to 
go into an open city in order to hail the approach 
of the enemy. Hardly had he arrived at Breslaw, 
before General Bulow, imitating the treason of 
General D'Yorck, opened his lines to the Russian 
light troops, and facilitated their passage of the 
Oder. The king at length threw off the mask, and 
by three successive ordinances called to arms first 
the young men rich enough to equip themselves, 
then the whole of the youth from seventeen to 
twenty-four years of age, and last the men above 
that age." 

In fact, the Russian armies had advanced with 
little opposition, had taken possession of Warsaw 
on the 8th of February, and niarched as friends 
Into Berlin on the 4th of March. The Hanoverians 
hM displayed the British colours, and Hamburgh 
had received the Russian troops with acclamations, 
and proclaimed its ancient government, under as- 

42 



surances of protection from the Emperor Alexan- 
der. 

In April the Russian armies had been augmented 
to three hundred and fifty-eight thousand men ; 
beside which Count Tolstoy had crossed the Nie- 
men with reinforcements of one hundred thousand 
men, principally Cossacs. The advanced corps 
(T arriiee Ci^ i\\Q Swedes had arrived on the Elbe from 
Pomerania, and were to be followed by twenty-five 
thousand men under the immediate command of the 
Crown Prince Bernadotte. The Prussian army, 
under the command of the celebrated Blucher, had 
advanced into the vicinity of Erfurth. 

On the 5th of April the Russians and Prussians, 
who had so lately met at the point of the bayonet, 
and inflicted on feach other all the miseries of glo- 
rious war, were arranged in perfect harmony under 
the orders of Count Wittgenstein, and opposed to 
the French under the Viceroy of Italy. The 
French corps d'aj-mee was composed of four divi- 
sions, amounting to about twenty-two thousand 
men ; and had been plundering the country around 
Magdeburgb, on the right bank of tlte Elbe. 
Wittgenstein resolved to attack them. tie for 
that purpose concentrated the corps of Generals 
D'Yorck and Yon Berg near Zerbst, and fixed his 
head-quarters at that place. Generals Yon Borstel 
and Yon Bulow w^ere pushed on from Siesar with 
orders to attack the enemy on the 5th when they 
should hear the commencement of the cannonading. 
On the morning of the 5th of April General 
D'Yorck's corps advanced to Leitzkau, and Gen- 
eral Yon Berg's to Ladeberg. General Yon Bors- 
tel had advanced towards Mockern, and General 
Yon Bulow to Hohenziatz. It was late in the 
afternoon before the van guard of D'Yorck came 
up with the French at Banighow, and the different 
corps of the allies soon after commenced their at- 
tacks upon Beauharnois' army at every point, and 
with a great superiority of numbers. The French 



331 

fought with their usual valour until dark, and then 
retreated, with a loss of near two thousand men 
killed and wounded. Wittgenstein by this victory 
siipposed that he had prevented an attempt upon 
Berlin. 

^ About this time (April 3d) the Emperor of Rus- 
sia in a proclamation addressed to the Germans 
and signed "Prince Koutusotf Smolenzk," declares 
the intention of Russia and Prussia to reduce 
France to her ancient limits, and restore liberty 
and independence to the princes and nations of 
Germany. 

The Emperor Napoleon having appointed his 
consort Regent of France, and made every other 
necessary disposition for what he would call the 
security and glory of the empire, left Paris to take 
command of the numerous hosts which, as if bv 
supernatural power, had been assembled and array- 
ed m hostile opposition to ihe late conquerors of 
the armies of France, Austria, and Prussia. On 
the 24th of April Napoleon left Mayence. Upon 
his joining the army every thing announced his in- 
tention to act on the offensive. In consequence of 
these appearances the combined Russian and Prus- 
sian armies had been united between Leipsic arid 
Altenburg, a position highly advantageous in all 
cases either of attack or defence. The French, 
having concentrated their forces, were dehouchin^ 
by Mereseburg and Weissenfels, at the same time 
that a considerable corps under Lauriston was sent 
on towards Leipsic, which appeared to be the main 
object of operation; this movement determined 
Count Wittgenstein to make the attack when it 
Avould be out'of the power of Lauriston's corps to 
co-operate with the main army. 

Marshal Prince Koutousoff Smolenzk had been 
left ill on the march at Buntzleau, where he died ; 
but his death was not published. Count Wittgen- 
stein, who had virtually commanded the allied 
forces, was now appointed commander in cheif. 



332 

The battle of the 2d May commenced by the attack 
of Beauhariiois upon the village of Listenau, and 
the bridges in front of Leipsic. Vfhile Napoleon 
was waiting the result of this attack with the inten- 
tion to move on Leipsic, Wittgenstein, following 
his plan of operations, attacked the centre of the 
French army at the village of Gross-Gorchen. 
Generals D'Yorck and Blucher commanded this 
attack, which appears to have been unexpected by 
the French, and made with an overwhelming force. 
The battle became general, but was hottest at the 
central point, the village of Gross-Groschen, which 
was taken and retaken, at the point of the bayonet, 
six several times with , immense slaughter. The 
French centre, repeatedly broken, was at length 
supported by the troops which had moved on Leip- 
sic, who made an attack on the right of the allies 
which Avas irresistible. To oppose this corps, the 
whole cavalry of the allied army were ordered from 
the left, where they had been employed with alter- 
nate success and repulse in charges upon the French 
columns of infantry, and were intended for a com- 
bined charge upon the French left : great expecta- 
tions were raised of complete success from this 
manoeuvre, but darkness intervened before the cav- 
alry could be brought into actiop. The next morn- 
ing the allies Avere prepared to renew the baltle, but 
the French were already in march towards Leipsic, 
the object of their first movements, and the allies 
did not deem it expedient to follow them. As far 
as can be judged from the statements of both par- 
ties, twenty thousand men were killed and wounded 
on this day of slaughter, and e^ch party announced 
a glorious victory obtained by himself. The se- 
quel, however, proves that the advantage was with 
the French : the allies occupied the point of their 
attack, and their adversary possessed and moved 
forward upon his ; the loss on each side was proba- 
bly about equal. This battle has been denomina- 
ted the battle of Lutzen. 



333 

On the 6th of May, General Wittgenstein had 
placed his army between the Elbe and the Elster, 
with the command of several of the bridges over 
the Elbe. 

Hamburgh, notwithstanding the power and the 
assurances of protection made by her Russian de- 
liverer, was again doomed to experience the miser- 
ies of foreign domination. A body of Swedish 
forces had been thrown into the city for its defence, 
but upon the approach of an army of Danes and 
French under General Bruyere, the Swedes retired, 
and the city again became subject to the French 
despot. The city w as laid under a contribution of 
forty-eight millions of francs, among other modes of 
punishment for having rejoiced at its liberation 
from its gracious master, and for having taken 
measures to insure its freedom. 

Tke allied armies, after the battle of Lutzen, ap- 
pear to have made successive retrograde move- 
ments, until they had chosen an exceedingly strong 
position in advance of Wurtchen and Hochkirk, a 
place celebrated in the history of the seven years 
war, where they concentrated a force of from one 
hundred and fifty to one hundred and sixty thou- 
sand men, and strengthened themselves by every 
means which the art of defence could suggest. 

On the 10th of May the French army passed the 
Elbe. On the 15th it took up its position in front 
of the allies at Bautzen. On the 19th the French 
emperor arrived from Dresden at his camp near 
Bautzen, and immediately reconnoitered the ene- 
my's position, and formed his plan of attack. 

On this same day a corps of the French under 
Lauriston, which was advancing to join the main 
army, were met and partially defeated by the corps 
of D'Yorck and Barclay de Tolly. The allies 
claimed a victory with the acquisition of ten pieces 
of cannon and one thousand five hundred prisoners ; 
but the affair does not appear to have been sufficient 
to disconcert Buonaparte's intended attack upon the 



334 

lines of the allied armies, which took place on the 
morning of the 20th. 

The right of the allied armies was supported by- 
mountains covered by woods. Bautzen contained 
their centre ; this town having been covered with 
redoubts. The left of the allies leaned upon forti- 
fied rising grounds which defended the debouches 
from the river Spree. All their front was covered 
by the Spree. They had a second fortified posi- 
tion in the rear of the first ; the left in front of the 
village of Hochkirk ; the centre covered by three 
intrenched villages and some marshes ; and their 
right by rising grounds and intrenchments. 

Marshal Oudinot, Duke of Reggio, commanded 
the right of the French army, leaning upon the 
mountains to the left of the Spree, and separated 
from the left of the allies by a valley and the river; 
Marshal M'Donald, Duke of Tarentum, comman- 
ded before Bautzen on the Dresden road ; Marshal 
Marmont, Duke of Ragusa, was upon the left of 
Bautzen, opposite the village of Niemenschutz : 
to the left of Marmont, General Bert rand com- 
manded a corps intended to debouche from Jaselitz 
upon the right of the allies. Marshal Ney, Prince 
of Moskwa, General Lauriston, and General Reg- 
nier were at Hoyerswerda, thrown out of the line, 
into the rear of the French army by the battle of 
the 19th. 

From the heights near Bautzen, Napoleon di- 
rected the battle. He ordered Oudinot to pass 
the Spree and attack the mountains which support- 
ed the left of the allies. Marshal M'Donald was 
directed to throw a bridge over the Spree between 
Bautzen and the mountains. Marmont was order- 
ed to throw another over a turn which that river 
takes to the left of Bautzen. Marshal Soult, Duke 
of Dalmatia, to whom the command of the centre 
was given, had orders to pass the Spree and attack 
the right of the combined armies ; whilst Ney, 
Lauriston, and Regnier were ordered to push for- 



335 

ward on Klix, pass the Spree, turn the right of 
the allies, and establish themselves from Wiutcheii 
to Weissenburg. 

About noon on the 20th the battle began by can- 
nonading. Marshals McDonald and Marmont cros- 
sed the Spree, and the latter, after a severe contest, 
gained possession of the heights and works opposed 
to him. A French division under general Com- 
pans, after a severe struggle of six hours, gained 
the occupation of Bautzen. At seven in the eve- 
ning the French had gained several points of the 
first position of the allies, and with advantages 
which more than compensated in a hero's mind the 
immense loss of men, stood ready to renew the at- 
tack on the return of day. At five in the morning 
of the 21st the Emperor of the French, having ta- 
ken his stand on the heights in advance of Bautzen, 
Marshals Oudinot and McDonald were directed to 
attack the left of the allies, and by keeping up a 
continued discharge of cannon and musketry there- 
by hide the real point of attack. Marshal Mortier, 
Duke of Treviso, kept up a cannonade in front of 
the centre of the allies ; while Ney, who had in the 
manoeuvres of the preceding day been separated 
from the main army by a part of the right of the 
allies, now attacked and beat his opponents at the 
village of Klix and advanced fighting to Preiletz. 
This village was carried by his troops ; but the re- 
serve of the allies advancing, the French were 
beaten back again with slaughter. About noon 
Marshal Soult, who led the centre, dehoxiched; but 
Count Wittgenstein directing his greatest elForts 
against this point, repulsed the attack of the cen- 
tre of the French with loss. At this moment Buo- 
naparte led the guards, the divisions of Maubourg, 
and a powerful artillery, to the attack of the right 
of the allies commanded by the veteran Blucher, 
and by this movement decided the bloody contest in 
favour of the French arms. The allies were obli- 
ged to uncover their right to meet this new attack. 



336 

and Marshal Ney, taking advantage of the circum- 
stance, regained the ground he had lost, carried by 
assault the village of Preisig, and pushed on to 
Wurtcher. Buonaparte having turned the right of 
the allies they were obliged to retreat, and left the 
field of battle covered with the mingled wounded, 
dying, and dead, in the possession of the French 
army. During the whole night the allied armies 
continued their retreat, and by four o'clock in the 
morning of the 22d the French commenced the 
pursuit. 

The allies made a stand at Reichenbach, and 
were again attacked, and again obliged to retreat. 
The battle was again bloody and obstinate. The 
French brouglit into action all their cavalry. Ge- 
neral Regnier with the Saxon corps gained the 
heights beyond Rettenbach, and pursued their ad- 
versaries as far as Hottendorf. The French army 
rested near Gorlitz, the allies continuing to retreat 
in the direction of Schweidnitz. 

Thus the 19th, 20th, 21st, and 22d of May pre- 
sented a succession of carnage in four successive 
battles fought by at lea&t 300,000 of the finest 
troops in the world. The killed and wounded were . 
iiorribly great on both sides. Of the losses on ei- 
ther part we can make no accurate estimate ; but 
some idea may be formed of the slaughter and suf- 
fering by the Frencli statement, that the allies lost 
in wounded alone 28,000 men, of whom 10,000 
were left on the field. The French acknowledged 
a loss of 12,000 killed and wounded ; which proba- 
bly may be doubled, and not equal the carnage of 
these four bloody days. Several general officers 
were killed, among whom general Kirgener, and. 
Marshal Duroc, duke of Frhdi, were destroyed by 
the same cannon ball. 

On the 41h of June an armistice was signed, to 
continue from that time to the 20th of July. This 
vvas preceded by the arrival of Count Shouvaloff 
and the Prussian general Kliest at the head-quarters 



^31 

of the victorious ^Emperor, where they had a con- 
ference of many hours. It was stipulated that the 
allies should, during the above-mentioned time, 
remain in East Prussia, and the French in Saxony 
and Silesia, having the privilege to provision the 
garrisons of Dantzic, Stetten^ Custrin, Molsk, &ic» 
every five days* with a free use of a French league 
of ground in the rear of each. A corps of the 
allies that blockaded Magdeburg was removed. 
The principal privilege gained by the allies was 
exemption from attack in their weakened condition. 

The events and termination of this short cam- 
paign of one month, were subjects of astonishment 
to the civilized world ; and various and strong were 
the hopes and fears of mankind during the nego- 
tiations for which this armistice gave time. The 
Prussian government made public declaration that 
the time gained should be employed in preparations 
for securing its independence. The governor of 
the country between the Vistula and the Russian 
frontier, calmed the minds of the people by assur- 
ances that the armistice would not terminate in 
peace, and the crown prince of Sweden took a po- 
sition with an army of 70,000 men on the lower 
Elbe, to be ready for the recommencement of hos- 
tilities. Notwithstanding these warlike appearances 
a congress of plenipotentiaries met at Prague, and 
negotiations for a peace were carried on formally 
under the mediation of the emperor of Austria, by 
whose interference the armistice was extended to 
the 10th of August. 

On the 14th of August the emperor of Austria 
published a manifesto, in which he announces the 
failure of the negotiations at Prague, and charges 
his son-in-law. Napoleon, with being the cause. 
He announces as a consequence, his joining the 
league against France, that being the only mode 
left him of preserving his independence, and pro- 
curing peace for Europe. 

Thus the war was renewed, and the power of 

43 



338 

Austria not only withdrawn from Napoleon, hiii 
set in array against him — a power stated at 150,000 
soldiers. The total force in arms of the allies was 
said to be 477,000, exclusive of 70 or 80,000 Swedes 
under the command of Bernadotte. All these 
mighty armies were under the command of men 
who had learned the m.ost approved mode of war- 
fare, either hj fighting against or under the orders 
of Bounaparte. 

Hostilities recommenced by an attack upon a 
position of the allied army in front of Lauenburgh,. 
which Marshal Davoust, with a superior force of 
French and Danes, carried at the point of the bayo- 
net. The allies on their part recommenced the 
bombardment of Stetten* 

The French having concentrated an army of 
80,000 men in the environs of Beyruth, under Mar- 
shal Oudinot, made a movement on the 21st of Au- 
gust which threatened Berlin. They advanced by 
the way of Trebbin, and forced all the positions of 
the allies, until they occupied the country between 
Mittenwalde and the Soare. On the 23d general 
Bertrand debouched upon the Prussian corps of 
Tauenzein, but was repulsed ; but another part of 
the French army carried the village of Gross Be- 
reuy and the whole advanced upon Ahrendorf. 
The action was renewed by an attempt of the allies 
to regain Ciross Beren. A division of the French 
army having threatened the village of Ruhldsdorf,, 
Bernadotte sent a force to take them in flank, which 
decided the day in favour of the allies, who took 
26 cannon, 1,500 prisoners, beside baggage and 
ammunition. 

It appears that the plan of the allies for opening 
this second campaign of 1813, was to advance from 
Bohemia by the passes into Saxony, and commence 
offensive operations in flank and rear of their ene- 
my, should he maintain his positions in Lusatia and 
on the right bank of the Elbe. While the main 
Russian army under Barclay De Tolly, including 



339 

the corps of Wittgenstein and Milaradovitcb, the 
Prussian corps of Kleist, and the whole of the 
Austrian army were to act offensivel}^, under the 
chief command of Prince Schwartzenburgh. Gen- 
eral Biucher with a corps d'armt'Cy composed of a 
division of Prussians under general D'York, with 
two Kussian divisions, were to move from Silesia on 
Lusatia, and threaten the front of the French army. 
In conformity with this plan, Blucber advanced 
in three columns on the 20th of August, the French 
withdrawing their posts before him; but on the 21st 
Buonaparte advanced upon the allies at Euntslau, 
Louenburgh, andLauan, attacked, and after an ob- 
stinate contest, forced the Prussian veteran to re- 
treat with a loss of upwards of 2000 men. The 
grand army of the allies was at the same time pas- 
sing the frontiers of Bohemia and Saxony ; the 
columns of Wittgenstein and Kliest by the passes of 
Peterswalde, and the Austrians by Komotau. On 
the 22d Wittgenstein's corps fell in with a portion 
of the French army under general St. Cyr, and 
after a sharp action, drove this corps of 1 5,000 men 
with considerable loss into Koni2;stein and the en- 
trenched works near Dresden. The other corps of 
the French army retreated before the allies to the 
same point. The allies now pressed forward on 
every side, and encircled Dresden. On the 26th 
of August the advanced guards of the Russians, 
Prussians, and Austrians encamped upon the heights 
above Dresden, and on the 27th the French aban- 
doned all the ground in advance of the city, and 
withdrew into the suburbs and their different works. 
These movements were not unaccompanied by los- 
ses of life on either part, in actions of minor im- 
portance, but which in other wars might have been 
deemed battles, and recorded for the gallantry dis- 
played, and the slaughter inflicted; but now the 
conflicts of armies, in which thousands are engaged, 
or even thousands slain, sink into insignificance, in 
«omparison with the great days of conflict in which 



340 

hundreds of thousands were engaged in deeds of death* 
and the victims of ambition by tens of thousands lay 
mangled with wounds in mingled heaps of dead and 
dying, on the horrible fields of their contention. 

The 27th of August is memorable in the records 
even of this war. The French had scarcely retir-^ 
ed to their posts in and around Dresden, when the 
allied armies, as if with an intent of terminating 
the war by the destruction of Buonaparte and his 
legions, made a combined attack upon all the French 
works. At four o*clock in the afternoon the troops 
moved to the assault. A tremendous cannonade 
from all the artillery of the allied armies began the 
operations of destruction, and was answered by an 
equal and more destructive discharge of cannon up- 
on the unsheltered and advancing assailants. On 
all sides the troops of Russia, Prussia, and Austria^ 
closed upon the works of the French, and in seve- 
ral places with unavailing valour stormed the re- 
doubts literally in the cannon's mouth. The Aus- 
trians gained one redoubt of eight guns not above 
sixty yards from the main wall, but the French on- 
ly quitted it for a shelter behind other works from 
whence they mowed down their enemies, themselves 
in security. The artillery of the allies made no 
impression upon the walls of the city, and the 
troops were exposed to an unavailing slaughter, 
where there were no breaches to facilitate their at- 
tacks, and where they were exposed to the fire of an 
enemy whom they could not reach. Buonaparto 
seeing his assailants completely checked, ordered a 
sortie of 30,000 of his guards ; and it required all 
the skill of the allied generals to withdraw their 
troops from the combat. Prince Maurice of Lich- 
tenstein sustained the attack of the guards, and 
prevented the retreat from becoming a rout. The 
allied armies regained their encampments, leaving 
many thousands of their best troops dead and dying 
on the field. 
The French Emperor, who had entered DresdeR 



341 

immediately after the victory he had obtained over 
Blucher, and just in time to direct these important 
operations, determined upon following up the re- 
pulse of the allies by an attack upon their encamp- 
ments the next day. The troops who had made 
the sortie of the 2*7th remained upon the field, and 
on the morning of the 28tli Buonaparte marched his 
whole army to the attack. 

The allies occupied a very extended position on 
the heights surrounding the city of Dresden, and 
although to assault an army in its camp which the 
day before had been considered strong enough to 
carry the redoubts and walls of a city defended by 
130,000 men, or, perhaps, more, was an arduous 
undertaking, yet the French commander knew that 
he had the advantage of directing troops triumph- 
ing in the success of the preceding day, who if 
checked could retire to the shelter of the ramparta 
lined with cannon which supported their rear. The 
day was hazy with a great fall of rain, and the bat- 
tle was principally maintained by the artillery of 
both armies and by frequent charges of cavalry. 

Towards the middle of the day a catastrophe oc- 
curred which awakened more than ordinary sensi-' 
bility and regret throughout the allied army : Gen« 
eral Moreau, whilst in earnest conversation with 
the Emperor of Russia, on the operations of the 
day, had both his legs carried off by a cannon shots 
the ball going through his horse. This distinguish- 
ed warrior had quitted his retirement in the United 
States, in consequence of a previous arrangement 
with the allied monarchs, and had accepted the com- 
mission of Major-General from the Emperor of 
Russia, and acted as chief of the stafi' of the allied 
armies. It has been supposed, in addition to the 
weight which his name and talents threw into the 
common cause of Europe, that it was expected that 
the French armies might be induced to rally round 
him in case of any reverse of fortune on the part of 
Napoleon, and that Moreau, the former favourite 



I 342 ■ 

general of France, would be the champion and re- 
storer of the Bourbons. If such were the plans of 
the allies they were frustrated by a random cannon 
ball ; for after suffering all the torture of a double 
amputation. General Moreau expired during the 
retreat which followed the battle of Dresden. 

Buonaparte perceiving that the left wing of the 
allies, composed of Austrians, was in some meas- 
ure separated from the main army by the intersec- 
tion of ihe valley of Plauen, ordered Murat to fall 
upon it with a great force, and seconded him by 
other able manoeuvres. The attack succeeded so 
far as to throw the enemy into confusion, and make 
many thousand prisoners. The allies, perceiving 
that the French Emperor had pushed a large body 
of forces across the Elbe at Koningstein and Pina, 
to possess himself of the passes in their rear, and 
having suffered severely by the actions of these 
two bloody days, began their retreat in the evening 
of the 28th. The French claim on this day, with 
propriety, a victory, but their boasts of taking 
30,000 prisoners, 60 cannon and 40 pair of colours 
are in the usUal style of European official despatch- 
es, where exaggeration of the enemy's losses, and 
careful concealment of their own disasters, appear 
to be the main object of the writers. By the sub- 
sequent events, the observer is enabled in some 
measure to separate truth from falsehood. 

General Vandamme had the command of the 
troops which Buonaparte had pushed forward upon 
tiie great road of Peterswalde to embarrass the re- 
treat of the allied armies. This movement caused 
another sanguinary battle on the 29th of August. 
The Russian column under Count Osterman, who 
was to return by the pass of Osterwalde, found 
Vandamme in possession of the pass in the moun- 
tains, and most gallantly forced their way through 
with the bayonet. The Russian guards, under the 
Grand Duke Constantino, came to their support, 
znd though the French repeatedly returned to the 



343 

charge they were kept in check the Whole day and 
Iheir plan evidently frustrated. The allies ac- 
knowledge, however, on this occasion, a loss of 
3000 men, and suppose the French loss at least 
double. 

The allied armies found themselves xmder the 
necessity of making a more general attack on the 
30th, upon that division of the French army which 
had been engaged the preceding day, not only to 
give time for those columns of the army to fall 
back which were retiring upon the Altenberg 
and Dippoldswalde road, but to extricate the Prus- 
sian corps of General- Kleist, which had not disen- 
gaged itself from the mountains. A great propor- 
tion of the artillery train and baggage of the allied 
army had not yet got clear of the mountains when 
the French appeared at Hollendorf and Kulm, 
about three German miles from Toplitz. The at- 
tack being determined upon, 12,000 Russians and 
12,000 Austrians began the battle of Toplitz, the 
remaining part of the troops collected for this 
service remaining in columns of reserve in the 
adjacent plain. The village of Kulm is situated at 
the bottom of a range of mountains which forms m 
barrier between Saxony and Bohemia ; from this 
point branch of! two distinct ranges of mountains. 
East and West ; between these ranges the ground 
is generally flat, affording, however, some good de- 
fensible positions. Upon this ground, immediately 
fronting the village of Kulm, the French collected 
a strong force of infantry and artillery, and kept 
up a galling fire upon the Russians under Milara- 
dovitch. Such was the able disposition of the French 
general, that the allies declined a direct attack upon 
him, but the Austrians were ordered to move along 
the high ground upon the right, while the Russians 
guards and infantry were to commence their attack 
upon the left so soon as the Austrians were suf- 
ficiently advanced. Yv'hile these movements were 
executing, the Prussian corps under Kleist unex^ 



344 

pectedly appeared in the rear of the French, de« 
cending the road by which they would retreat if 
necessary, and joining in the attack, the French 
were completely defeated with great confusion, loss,, 
and slaughter. The fruits of this victory to the 
allies were General Vandamme and six other gen- 
erals prisoners, 60 pieces of artillery, 10,000 sol- 
diers prisoners, and 6 standards. The commander- 
in-chief of the allies in the battle of Toplitz waa 
Barclay de Tolly. 

In Silesia the absence of Buonaparte, and the 
drafts made from that army which had recently 
beaten Blucher, was taken advantage of by that 
skilful veteran to attack the French, now under the 
command of Marshal M'Donald. On the 29th of 
August, M'Donald was defeated with the loss of 
15,000 men prisoners, and 100 pieces of cannon. 
The number of slain does not appear, or what pro- 
portion of loss fell to the share of the victors. 

In the mean time the allied army under Berna- 
dotte, which was opposed to the French troops 
commanded by Marshal Oudinot, who threatened 
Berlin, was attacked on the 23d of August at the 
village of Gross Beren. The contest, though se- 
vere, was not long doubtful ; Oudinot was repuls- 
ed and beaten with the loss of 1500 prisoners, 26 
pieces of cannon, 30 caissons, and his baggage. 
This success not only prevented the corps under 
Girard, which manoeuvred upon Berlin from Mag- 
deburg, from combining with Oudinot, but exposed 
it to a separate attack on the 27th at Belzig, where 
it was completely defeated with the loss of 3500 pri- 
soners, 8 pieces of cannon, and part of its baggage. 
These successes enabled the crown prince to press 
rpon the retreat of Oudinot towards Wittenburg. 
On the 28th the town of Luckau surrendered to 
General Tauenzein, with its garrison 1000 men, 
and on the 30th the allied army had its advance 
between Interbock and Zinna. 

On the lower Elbe hostilities commenced imme- 



345 

diately on the cessation of the armistice, and Mar- 
shal Davoiist attacked the allies under Count Wal- 
modin, but without any decisive advantage, or any 
consequence but a mutual slaughter of the soldiers 
of either part. 

Early in September the allied army of reserve 
under General Beningsen, crossed the Oder, and 
advanced upon the Bober. The troops which had 
been at Toplitz for some time, waiting supplies, 
were again put in motion. The Russians and Prus- 
«ians, under Barclay de Tolly and Wittgenstein, 
with some Austrian divisions, re-entered Saxony 
by Peters walde, and Marienburg, and approached 
Dresden again. Prince Schwartzenberg with a corps 
of Austrians threatened the right of the French in 
Lusatia. 

On the 8th of September the Russians and Prus- 
sians under Count Wittgenstein, who had advanced 
through the mountains beyond Peterswalde and 
Zehista, on the road to Dresden, were attacked by 
the French and defeated. The chief contest was 
for the village of Dohna, which the French finally 
forced the allies to abandon ; and Wittgenstein re- 
treated to Peterswalde. The allies acknowledged 
a loss of 1000 killed and wounded. On the 9th 
Buonaparte joined this portion of his armies and 
pressed upon the allies, who retreated fighting, un- 
til they had accumulated a force sufficient to justify 
giving battle ; they were accordingly drawn up for 
the contest on the 12th with 100,000 men and 800 
pieces of cannon, in strong position. Buonaparte 
declined the risk, and commenced a retrograde 
fnovement towards Dresden, breaking up the roads 
in his retreat. 

Marshal Davoust having despatched a corps un- 
der General Pechaux to\vards Magdeburg, Count 
Walmoden crossed the Elbe on the 14tb, and sur- 
prised the French corps, which was routed with a 
loss of 3000 men killed, wounded, and prisoners. 

The grand armies of France and of the allies 

44 



346 

frotn the 13th to the 16th had several affairs ancf 
skirmishes each occasionally advancing or receding. 
On the 16th Buonaparte made an attempt to turn 
the right of the allies before Culm, at the same 
time assailing the centre and left. The French 
succeeded in gaining the flank of the allies unper- 
ceived, and forced them from their position. The 
Russians and Prussians were saved from absolute 
defeat bj general Coloreda with a corps of Austri- 
ans, who advanced and held the French in check. 
The French likewise succeeded in throwing the 
centre of the allies into confusion, but finally with- 
drew to their position on the mountains, keeping 
possession, however, of the village of Nollendorf, 
from which they had driven the allies. The loss of 
men in this affair was considerable, but is not stated 
in the despatches. 

A French corps under the command of general 
Lefebre Denouette, consisting of 8000 cavalry, 
700 infantry, a squadron of Mamelukes, and a par- 
ty of Tartars, were attacked near Altenburg by 
Platoff" and his Cossacs, and completely put to 
rout. Fifteen hundred prisoners and five guns 
were the fruits of this achievement. 

On the side of the army of Bohemia, the allied 
sovereigns having been joined by the corps of gen- 
eral Beningsen, determined to move forward by 
their left. The army was ordered to march on the 
first &i' October. A variety of manoeuvering and 
some fighting took place in the crossing of the 
Elbe. General Blucher crossed on the first and at-- 
tacked the French entrenched posts between War- 
tenberg and Bledin. The resistance of the French 
under general Bertrand was, as usual, obstinate, 
and the contest long and bloody. General D' Yorck's 
corps carried the strongest position, took above 
1000 prisoners, 16 pieces of cannon with their train. 
In this action the Prussians suffered severely. A 
body of 2000 men of the French threw themselves 
into Wittenberg, the rexnainder falling back upon 



347 

Kemberg. Bliicher pursued them in the direction 
of Leipsic. Marshal Ney, with his corps, retreat- 
ed from Dessau towards Leipsic, to which point 
the two hostile armies now tended, as" if by consent 
there to settle the destiny of Europe. 

It appears that the plan of the French Emperor 
had been to strike at Prague, and establish himself 
on the line of supply of the Austrian armies. For 
this purpose General Vandamme had been pushed 
forward with assurance of support, which failing, 
caused his destruction, and the failure of the plan 
of supply. The French troops in the mountains of 
Bohemia had suffered extreme distress in conse- 
quence. At Dresden great scarcity and conse- 
quent misery had been experienced, and the French 
corps who retraced their steps across the Elbe, 
were in a deplorable state of suffering. 

The army of the allies continued to advance in a 
direct line to Leipsic, near which place the head 
quarters of Prince Schwartzenberg were establish- 
ed early in October. The Prince Royal and Gen- 
eral Blucher, having advanced towards the same 
point, the allied forces had nearly formed a junc- 
tion ; a rideau was thus drawn across this part of 
Saxony, extending from Dessau to Marienburg on 
the Bohemian frontier. In the mean time Gen. 
Beningsen drove the French from their intrench- 
ments at Gieshubel and advanced towards Dresden 
on the great road from Toplitz. The great force 
brought against Buonaparte, especially by the 
command of the great resources of Russia and the 
talents displayed by Bernadotte, who was the prime 
mover of the allies, placed the French armies in 
extreme jeopardy, though so lately triumphant be- 
fore Dresden. 

The Crown Prince intended by a movement of 
the whole allied force to the left bank of the Saale 
to force Buonaparte to a general battle with forces 
much superior to his in number and condition, or 
to embarrass and harass his retreat, if he should 



348 

determine tipon a measure which the combined 
movements of the armies^of Bohemia, Silesia, and 
of the north of Germany on his flanks, and all his 
communications, seemed to render so necessary. 

Napoleon manoeuvred from Dresden with a large 
body of cavalry on the right, and all his infantry on 
the left bank of the Elbe, as far down as Archlau; 
He made a strong demonstration with 20,000 men, 
as if to oppose Blucher in his passage of the Elster. 
But the allies were not to be turned aside from pur« 
poses which they knew they had strength to fulfil, 
and the army of Blucher, being now in close com- 
munication with that of the Prince Royal Berna- 
dotte, was marched from Dieben on Jamilz on the 
9th, and passed the Mulda ; and the Crown Prince 
concentrated his forces between Zorbig, Radegast, 
and Bitterfeld. 

The French Emperor now concentrated a part of 
his forces about Eulenberg and Oschatz, between 
the Mulda and the Elbe. The allies passed the 
Saale, and were placed in order of battle with their 
left upon that river, waiting the further movements 
of Buonaparte. In the mean time the various corps 
d' armee of the allies continued to advance, hem- 
ming in their adversary until he had taken his stand 
around Leipsic. But before the decisive events 
which took place on that memorable field of action, 
we must record more particularly the movements 
of the allied armies in their advance, and a bloody 
battle fought between the French and allied army 
of Silesia on the 14th of October. 

When the allies received certain intelligence that 
the French armies were withdrawing from the right 
bank of the Elbe to collect about Leipsic, the Crown 
Prince occupied with his advanced guard the left 
bank of the Mulda, and General Blucher had his 
advance atMerzeberg and Schednitz. On the 14th 
Blucher pushed his advanced sjuard on the great 
road to Leipsic, occupying the villages on each side 
of it. The French were in force in his front, hold- 



349 

ing DebTiJideiviN-^i Bitterfeld 'A-i^'i some tiobps along 
the Mulda. The Crown Prince issued orders to 
march to Halle in the night of the 14th ; but when 
his troops were in march he took up his head quar- 
ters at Sylbitz, and placed the Swedish army with 
its right at Wilten and its left near Petersberg. Gen. 
Bulow occupied the centre of his line between Pe- 
tersberg and Oppin, and the corps of Winzingerode 
was on the left at Zorbig. Blucher found the fourth, 
sixth, and seventh corps of the French army, and 
part of the guard, under Marshals Marmont and Ney; 
General Bertrand occupying a line with its right at 
Freyroda and its left at Lindenthal. 

The country is open and very favourable to cav- 
alry around these villages ; but in frpnt of Kade- 
feld, the French were covered by a wood, and had 
the advantage of more intersected ground. The 
plan of attack of the allies was that General Lan- 
geron should assault and carry, first Freyroda, and 
then Radefeld. General D'Yorck, with his corps 
d'armee, was to move on the great causey leadiiig 
to Leipsic -until he reached Sitzchera, and then to 
turn to his left and force the French post at Lin- 
denthal. A corps of Russians was to press on the 
main road to Leipsic. The corps of General St. 
Priest was to follow General Langeron. About 
mid day the cavalry were formed, and the troops 
at their stations. 

The onset was made as directed, and the French 
retired from their post in advance, but obstinately 
contested the posts covered by w^ood on their right, 
and the villages on their left. At Mockern a most 
sanguinary conflict ensued, and it was taken and 
re-taken several times with prodigious slaughter on 
both parts. This was the hottest part of the field, 
and most of the superior officers were either killed 
or wounded. At length, numbers prevailed where 
valour was equal, and the victorious Silesians car- 
ried all before them and drove the French beyond 
the Parthia. 



350 

The resistance oiV4;^e right of thfe'-i^^^*<ih was 
Dearly as persevering. Here the Russians bore the 
brunt of the fight, and they were equally successful 
wilh their allies. Though the allies gained the vic- 
tory, it was night alone which put an end to the ac- 
tion. The veteran Blucher held as trophies of con- 
quest 18 cannon, one eagle, and a few hundred pri- 
soners, and acknowledged a loss of between 6 and 
7000 men. 

Before we enter into a detail of the battles of 
Leipsic, on which the fate of the campaign and of 
Europe depended, let us take a view of the state of 
that unfortunate city immediately previous and at 
the time. 

Leipsic, the greatest commercial city of Germa- 
ny, had been open in its declaration of ill will to 
the French dospot, and had consequently suffered 
a full portion of the miseries and oppression he 
knew so Avell to inflect ; and all the surrounding 
country was rendered desolate by an immense 
army which gathered on all sides, and subsisted in 
the most licentious and wasteful manner upon the 
product of the soil and the property of the people, 
whose own despot was in alliance with the leader of 
these locust-like protectors. All that had been 
spared to Saxony from imposts, contributions, and 
quarterings, was now literally devoured, and the 
peasant and the villager gladly escaped with their 
lives from the allies of their king. The citizens of 
Leipsic could look from their steeples and see ar- 
mies which seemed innumerable, literally encircle 
them. Bodies of troops were constantly entering 
and passing from the city. The public buildings 
were hospitals filled with sick and wounded, and 
supported by the city. Scarcity of food reminded 
the inhabitants that unless some change soon took 
place they were doomed to all the horrors of fam- 
ine. In this state of things they anxiously beheld 
the approach of the allied armies, forming another 
and a greater circle around the host that surround- 
ed their city. 



351 

The order in which the allied armies approached 
to the attack of the French was as follows : Tha. 
corps of General Giujay, Prince Maurice Lichten- 
stein, Thielman and Platoff, were collected in the 
neighbourhood of Markradstadt, with orders to 
move forward on Leipsic, keeping open a com- 
munication on the one side with Blucher's army,, 
and on the other these corps were to detach from 
their right to facilitate the attack of the corps of 
General Mereveldt and the division of Bianchi 
Weissendorf, upon Zwackau and Connewita ; at 
which latter place the bridge across the Pleisse was 
to be carried. General Wosteiz's cavalry were to 
form on their right. In case of retreat these corps 
were to retire upon Zeitz. The reserves of the 
Russian and Prussian guards were to move on to 
Kotha, where they were to pass the Pleisse and 
form in columns on its right bank. The reserves 
of the Prince of Hesse Homberg^, Generals Mere- 
veldt and Wittgenstein, were also to take post at 
this station ; General Barclay de Tolly to com- 
mand all the columns on the right bank of the Ple- 
isse. Generals Wittgenstein, Kleist and Klienau, 
were to advance from their respective positions on 
Leipsic, the Russian guards forming their reserve. 
General Colloredo advanced from Borne as reserve 
to General Kleinau. The retreat of Colloredo's 
corps was to be on Chemnetz, and that of Witt- 
genstein, Kleist, and Kleinau on Altenberg and 
Penig. The army of General Beningsen was to 
push on from Coldlitz on Grimma and Wurtzen. 

The reader may, after this detail, with the aid of 
his map, have an accurate notion of the situation 
and intention of the allies, previous to one of the 
greatest battles ever fought. 

Buonaparte, thus encircled, did not wait to be at- 
tacked. Though under disadvantageous circum- 
stances, he had still the spirit of a conqueror, and 
the skill of a consummate commander. With an 
army inferior in numbers, the cavalry of which was 



35^ 

eontemptible in comparison with their adversarie^j 
the French Emperor himself led the battle, and on 
the 16th of October, the first day of this long scene 
of carnage, broke the ranks of the allies, and seem- 
ed still to be the favourite of victory* 

Taking a view of the surrounding hosts from Leip- 
sic, Ihe French army Avas seen stretching in a vast 
semicircle from Paunsdorf to Brobstheide, and wat 
lost to the eye in the woods of Konnewitz. Their 
reserves were in an inner circle near the city. To- 
wards the north and west, the columns W'ere more 
detached, though the form of the lines was the same. 
The morning of the 16th was foggy, rainy, and 
cold ; and the first indication of battle was given by 
the roaring of cannon from Liebert Wolkowitz. 
Six hundred pieces of artillery were at once brought 
into action. Two solitary buildings which the 
French occupied near their centre, were attacked 
by the Russian infantry, and, after an amazing car- 
nage, carried. The French cavalry, poor as they 
were, made a desperate push under the direction of 
Murat, and broke through the line of the allies. 
Here the combined army suffered most on this day; 
for thougli the French were partially repulsed by 
the Austrian cuirassiers, they carried their point, 
and caused a change in the order of battle. Other 
divisions of the allies, advancing towards the city, 
according to the fjlan detailed, came successively in- 
to action, and the cannon of the allies from Kleins- 
chacher were answered by the French artillery 
from Lindenau. The allies endeavoured to force 
the French at Lindenau, but were repulsed by the 
voltigeurs with great loss. In the afternoon Napo- 
leon claimed a victory, and ordered the bells of 
Leipsic to be rung ; but the battle raged until six 
in the evening, and then seemed only to cease by 
mutual consent at the approach of darkness. The 
killed and wounded of the day was immense, yet 
this was but a prelude to the battle of Leipsic. 

On the night of the 16th the inhabitants of Leip- 



353 

sic were ordered to rejoice for a victory obtained 
by their protectors over the allies ; but they still 
beheld the same hostile circles around their city, 
marked by lines of fires encirclino^ each other until 
lost in distance, and saw their public buildings and 
the corn magazines crowded with mutilated wretch- 
es who were brought groaning from the field of 
their monarch's glory to suffer and die ; and those 
were fortunate who found shelter and assistance in 
these abodes of misery; for such were the multi- 
tudes, that hundreds (it has been asserted that thou- 
sands) lay on the pavements without aid, or food, 
or w^ater to quench their burning thirst. 

The 17th of October was passed without renewing 
the action, and in preparations on both parts for the 
struggle of the succeeding day. The allies inten- 
ded to attack on the 18th, and it was determined to 
commence from their different points of assembly 
on the principal villages situated on the great road 
leading to Leipsic, The armies of the north and 
Silesia were jointly to attack from the line of the 
Saale, and upon the French position on the Partha 
river. General Blucher reinforced the Crown Prince 
Bernadotte with 30,000 men to attack from the 
heights of Faucha, while Blucher was to use his 
utmost endeavours to gain possession of Leipsic. 
In the event of the whole French force being brought 
to act against either of these armies they were to 
support each other and concert further movements. 

The French force which had been opposed to 
Bernadotte and Blucher, had taken up a strong po- 
sition on the left bank of the Partha, having its 
right at the strong point of Faucha, and its left to- 
wards Leipsic. The 17th of October appeared to 
be kept holy because it was the Sabbath, but we 
know that heroes do not cease from the w^ork of 
destruction either at the command of God or Na- 
ture. Comparative silence reigned throughout the 
late scenes of death, but the smoke of burning vil- 
lages, and the groans of wounded soldiers, and the 

45 



354 

imm of preparation for further misery, marked ihy 
hollow truce as only the deceitful calm which pre-»' 
cedes the tempest. 

The morning of the 18th of October arrived^ 
The fate of Europe was to be decided by the joint 
talents of Bernadotte and Blucher, Wittgenstein, 
Barclay de Tolly, and Schwartzenberg,, placed in 
opposition to Napoleon Buonaparte. Monarcha 
were engaged as their engines, or stood by as spec- 
tators of the scene. 

The battle began with the dawn of the day, and 
before nine o'clock in the morning it raged througlt 
the whole line. To force the right of the French* 
and gain possession of the heights of Faueha, was 
the first object of Bernadotte. The Russian corps 
of Winzinzgerode, and the Prussians under Bulow, 
were destined for this purpose, while the Swedes- 
were ordered to force the passage of the river, at 
Pfosen and Mockau. These first operations were 
successful, and General Winzingerode took 3000 
prisoners at Faueha and some guns. The centre of 
the allies being engaged with the centre of the 
French near the villages of Stollentz and Probes- 
theyda, General Blucher put his army in motian ; 
and Bernadotte's army had not sufficient time to 
make their flank movements before the French in- 
fantry abandoned the line of the river and retired 
over the plain, in line and column, towards Leipsic, 
occupying Paunsdorf, Somerfeldt and Schonfeldt. 
Nothing very rem.arkablc happened in this part ot 
the field until near the close of the day, when Gen- 
erai Langeron, who had crossed the river, attacked 
the vil'lage of Schonfeldt with great fury, and was 
repulsed with proportionable loss. He, however, 
returned to the attack and took it ; but was driven 
out again By a charge of the French. Blucher,. 
hearing of these actions,, sent him the most positive 
order to re-occupj it at the point of the bayonet — 
and it was done. During the action 22 guns of 
Saxon artillery joined the allies and two Westphali- 



355 

an regiments. The Saxons composed a principal 
part of the seventh corps nnder general Regnier, 
nnd were posted in the left wing near Faucha. 
They had just come into action, and the allies had 
already brought up a great number of guns against 
them. To the astonishment of their leader, they 
marched forward in close files with their muskets 
clubbed, and went over to the enemy with all their 
artillery. The artillery was immediately turned 
upon the French. 

The most desperate resistance made by the 
French on this day was at Probestheyda, StellerJitz 
and Konnewitz ; but the columns of the allies, to 
whom the attack was assigned, carried every point, 
though at great loss, by a valour and perseverance 
which was irresistible. 

Night closed this bloody contest, in which the 
French army was defeated with a loss of 40,000 
killed, wounded, and prisoners, 65 pieces of artille- 
ry, 17 battalions of German infantry, which came 
over to the allies during the action, with all the stafi 
and generals, besides the Saxon artillery and West- 
phalians, before mentioned. 

Buonaparte was already on the retreat, and con- 
tinued during the night of the 18th to withdraw 
his shattered battalions, and to make such prepara- 
tions for the defence of Leipsic as should place 
that city as a barrier between him and the victors. 
He has in the latter part of his career proved that 
he was deficient in one essential quality of an ac- 
complished general : he has never provided for 
the safety of his armies in case of defeat. With- 
out recurring to the examples of the greatest gene- 
rals, without mentioning Frederick, or Moreau, or 
"Wellington, even the Duke of York, the military 
genius of the English royal family, was better at a 
retreat than Buonaparte. 

On the morning of the 19th the town of Leipsic 
was attacked and carried ; the resistance made by 
the" French was scarcely sufficient to give time to 



356 

their retiring columns to press out of the city by the 
Ranstadt gate, and retreat by the line of the Saale, 
the only road open to them. The armies of Blu- 
cher, Bernadotte, and Benin^sen, with the grand 
army under Wittgenstein and Barclay de Tolly, all 
pressed upon the retiring foe, and entered Leipsic 
almost as soon as the French Emperor quitted it. 

The horrors and confusion of the retreat has 
been vividly described by an eye witness. The 
columns of the French, which entered the town by 
three gates, had to press their way out through one, 
while the artillery of the allies thundered upon the 
city, and their shells had set it on fire in several pla- . 
ces. Cries and shouts resounded from every quar- 
ter. The retreat of the remaining troops, even 
before Buonaparte had left the city, had become a 
disordered rout. Horse and foot guards were ming- 
led together, and their progress impeded by wag- 
gons and cannon frequently locked together and 
choaking the way, while droves of cattle were anx- 
iously urged forward for the future sustenance of 
the fugitives. In the midst of this confusion the 
emperor was seen with a numerous retmue, all on 
horseback, making his way with difficulty through 
the surrounding chaos. A by road was afterwards 
pointed out to him through a garden, by which he 
passed the outward gate. 

Prince Poniatowsky, who had been charged with 
the defence of that part of the Leipsic suburbs 
nearest the Borna road, finding his retreat cut off, 
rushed, at the head of a few Polish curaissiers and 
the officers of his suite, upon the nearest column of 
the allies. He had already two wounds, and now 
received a musket ball in his left arm. He pushed 
through his enemies, and threw himself into the 
Pleisse, the opposite bank of which he reached 
with the loss of his horse ; he mounted another, 
and proceeded to the Elster, the banks of which 
were already lined by the enemy. He plunged 
into the river, and with his horse instantly sunk. 



357 

After Buonaparte and his marshals had made then- 
escape the rout became more and more confused 
and destructive. In the mean time, the allied prin- 
ces, at the head of their respeclive armies, entered 
Leipsic at different points, and met in the great 
square, there to enjoy the acclamations of victory, 
and rejoice over the downfal of their great enemy. 

The retreat of the French from the 20th of Oc- 
tober to the 3d of November, from the Saale to the 
Rhine, was a succession of woe and disaster, only 
exceeded by the miseries of their retreat the pre- 
ceding year from the Dneiper to the Neimen. 
Although it was only during the first six or seven 
days of the retreat that out of the whole coalesced 
armies, some divisions of the Silesian army under 
Blucher could keep up close enough to harass their 
enemies, yet upwards of 10,000 prisoners were 
made, 70 pieces of cannon taken, and the route of 
Buonaparte, as in Russia, was marked by desola- 
tion, pillage and conflagration, and by thousands of 
the lifeless or expiring victims of his cruel ambi- 
tion. The disasters of the French did not solely 
proceed from the enemy that pursued them, or the 
necessary evils of precipitate flight ; Czernichoif 
with a body of Cossacs and other light troops had 
gained the front of the French army, and though 
not in force suflScient to ofler battle, preceded their 
march, preparing for them an endless succession of 
vexations. They lay in wait for and cut off* de- 
tached parties ; they broke down bridges and de- 
stroyed the magazines which had been provided in 
the towns the French had to pass. In these opera- 
tions alone Czernichoif is said to have taken 4000 
prisoners from the French. 

Thus hunted and harassed, they learned, as they 
approached the Maine, that a severer trial awaited 
them. General Wrede, with an army, was waiting 
for them at Kirzig, and the scenes of the Berezina 
seemed preparing to be enacted anew. Wrede, like 
Tchitchagoff, stood in the way of further progress, 



358 

and Blucher, like Wittgenstein, pressed lliem on from 
behind. But Field Marshal Prince Schartzenberg 
bad made too sure of the effectual opposition which 
Wrede could make atKirzig, and had ordered Gen- 
eral Blucher to turn off towards the Cahn and Cob- 
lentz. Buonaparte attacked Wrede with great skill, 
and was seconded by the desperate valour of the 
shattered remains of his armies. He burst through 
the barrier opposed to him and perhaps with -an 
equal loss on his own part strewed the field with 
10,000 of his opposers. The allies were obliged 
to retreat and to evacuate Hanau. This battle was 
fought on the 30th of October. 

The French army pursued their march, leaving 
a garrison in Hanau, which General Wrede attack- 
ed by storm. He was severely wounded in the on- 
set, but the place was taken, and the whole French 
garrison put to the sword. 

For the purposes of freeing the north of Germa- 
ny of the enemy, of strengthening general Walmo- 
den in his operations against Marshal Davoust, 
who still held his position on the right bank of the 
Elbe, of possessing Bremen, the mouths of the 
Weser and the Elbe, of reducing Hamburg, of re- 
storing Hanover to the king of England, of cutting 
off Davoust from Holland, and facilitating opera- 
tions upon that country, the Crown Prince moved 
with his army towards Hanover and the north. 

On the line of the Rhine the operations of the 
grand allied army under Prince Schwartzenberg 
brought this portion of the allies to the vicinity of 
Frankfort on the Maine by the 5th of November. 
The Emperors of Russia and Austria entered 
Frankfort on that day, and v/ere joined by the king 
of Prusssa on the 13tlu The kings and princes 
whom Buonaparte had created hastened to abjure 
their connexion with France $ind secure the pro- 
tection of the conquerors. 

Field Marshal Blucher continued his march for 
Hie lower Rhine, and arrived with the army of Si- 



359 

jesia at Miilheim on the 13ili of November. On 
the 2d of December a body of troops crossed the 
river at DusseldoriF, surprised the French garrison 
at Neiiss and destojed the magazines. 

Switzerland, after the overthrow of the French 
army at Leipsic declared itself neutral. The act 
of neutrality was passed by the diet at Zurich on 
the 20ih of November. Deputies were sent to 
Buonaparte and to the allies for their consent, and 
troops raised to protect their frontiers. 

The advance of the army of Bernadotte reached 
Hanover on the 1st of November, and the inhabit- 
ants hastened to abjure King Jerome. The naviga- 
tion of the Weser was restored by the reduction of 
Carlfort and Blexen. An assault uporj Stadt was 
repulsed ; but the French garrison, fearing a repe- 
tition, withdrew and crossed the Elbe to Hamburg, 
W'here Marshal Davoust soon after shut himself up 
with his army. 

When Buonaparte assembled his forces at Leip- 
sic, he left Marshal St. Cyrwith his corps and the 
remains of the corps of Yandamme to defend Dres- 
den and cover his flank. On the 17th of October, 
St. Cyr attacked and defeated the corps of Russians 
under Tolstoy which was left to mask Dresden, 
After the battle of Leipsic General Kleinau was 
sent against St. Cyr, and finally succeeded in making 
prisoners of his garrison. The garrisons of Stetten, 
Erfurt, and Dantzig, shared the same fate. 

The troops under the direction of Bernadotte 
continued to advance. Winzingerode established 
his head quarters at Bremen, and detached troops on 
Oldenburg and East Friedland, thence they crossed 
the Ems, entered Holland, and took Croninjen with 
its garrison. Other Dutch towns shared the same 
fate. The corps of Von Bulow entered Holland 
by the side of Munster, sweeping every thing before 
it, and putting the garrisons of Doesburg and Arn- 
heimtothe sword. 

On the news of the approach of the victorious 



3G0 

allies the inhabitants of the Hague, Amsterdam, 
Rotterdam, Haerlam, Leyden, and some other 
towns, rose in refiistance to the French ; who sub- 
mitted to circumstances, and by agreement with- 
drew their troops, A provisional government be- 
ing established at the Hague, deputies were des- 
patched to England to invite the prince of Orange 
to assume the government and to solicit aid from 
the ministry. Some troops w^ere immediately sent 
off, and an armament under Sir Thomas Graham 
assembled in the Downs. The prince of Orange 
arrived at Schevelin, on the 30th of November, and 
he was saluted as sovereign prince of the Nether- 
lands. 

Buonaparte re-entered France a second time as a 
fugitive. His first attention was turned to the 
finances of the empire, and by a decree of No- 
vember 11, the taxes and duties were augmented, 
and measures were adopted soon after to anticipate 
the revenue. On the 19th the emperor met his 
senate. In his address he tells them that the 
splendid victories he had obtained in the last cam- 
paign,, were rendered useless by the unparalleled 
defection of his allies; that as he had never been 
seduced by prosperity, he will be foimd superior to 
adversity ; that a preliminary basis of negotiation 
for a peace had been presented to him by the allies, 
and negotiations entered into threon ; that the 
delays attendant upon assembling a congress at 
Manheim are not to be attributed to France ; that 
he wishes for peace, and regrets the necessity of 
calling upon his people for new sacrifices; that 
Denmark and Naples alone remain faithful to him; 
that he has recognized the neutrality of the nine- 
teen Swiss Cantons ; and concludes by calling upon 
the senate for their support. 

A new levy of 300,000 conscripts had already 
been ordered by Buonaparte ; which measure cal- 
led forth a declaration from the allied powers, da- 
ted at Frankfort, Dec. 1, 1813, in which they " pro- 



361 

stiulgate anew, in the face of the world, the views 
which guide them in the present war." They say 
that they do not make war upon France, but against 
that preponderance which, to the misfortune of 
Europe and of France, " the Emperor Napoleon 
has too long exercised beyond the limits of his em- 
pire ;" that the first use they have made of victory 
is " to offer peace to his majesty the Emperor of 
the French ;" that the conditions offered are found- 
ed on the independence of the French empire, as 
well as on the independence of the other states of 
Europe ; that they desire that France may be great, 
powerful, and happy, as being one of the founda- 
tions of the social edifice of Europe ; that they 
^confirm to the French empire an extent of territory 
which France under her kings never knew ; that 
they desire a partition of strength, by which to pre- 
serve their people from such miseries as have been 
experienced ; and that they will not lay down their 
arms until this object is obtained. 

In the mean time preparations for war, offensive 
and defensive, were carried on with unremitting 
exertion. Napoleon made his last effort to- recruit 
his exhausted armies, and the allies prepared ta 
cross the Rhine and invade France. On the 20th 
of December 160,000 men entered Switzerland and 
crossed the Rhine at Basle, without opposition. 

On entering the Swiss territory the commander 
in chief of the allies, Prince Schwartzenberg, is- 
sued an order by which his soldiers were notified 
that they entered the Swiss territory as friends. 
Other armies of the allies passed the Rhine at Dus- 
seldorf and at Coblentz. The force that entered 
France was stated at 300,000 men. Lord Welling- 
ton, with the English, Spanish, and Portuguese 
armies, had previously entered the territory of 
France by the south, and had gained several bloody^ 
battles over Marshal Soult near Bayonne. 

The allies had left behind them the strong fron- 
tier places of the Rhine in possession of their ene- 

46 



mieg, and entered France by its most vulnerable' 
part ; taking their route through Franche Compte 
and Lorraine. They had akeady addressed a proc- 
lamation to the French people in the same style of 
dignified moderation and wisdom which had charac- 
terized their preceding declaration in respfect to 
peace, and which marks such superior talents in the 
councils of the emperor of Russia. They assured 
the French people that they did not make war upon 
them, but only wished to repel the attempts of the 
government of France to subjugate the states of 
the confederacy. They promise to respect public 
order and private property. They disclaim all 
motives of retaliatory vengeance. They conclude 
by expressing their desire for that peace which they 
had offered before entering the territory of France. 

Buonaparte, on this as on very many other oc- 
casions, had been blind to his own interest through 
an inordinate wish to promote it. He might have 
remained and been confirmed on the imperial throne 
of France ; but he demanded Italy. The ministers 
of fate moved on, and he prepared for the last 
struggle against his destiny. 

On the 30th of December, tlie senate addressed 
the French emperor for the last time in the tone 
and terms of adulation. They told him that they 
came to offer him the tribute of their attachment 
and gratitude ; that he had given the strongest 
pledge in his power of his desire for peaee > tha^ 
he acted upon the belief that power is strengthened 
by being limited, and that the art of promoting the 
happiness of their people was the chief policy of 
kings ; that the French united under him would not 
suffer their invaders to triumph ; and they conclude 
with requesting him to obtain peace by a last effort 
worthy of himself, and then sign " the repose of 
the world." 

In his answer he tells the £f nate that they have 
seen what he has done for peace, but in the mean 
time. Beam, Alcase, Franche Compte, Brabant^ 



363 

are invaded ; be talks of the tenderness of his heart, 
and calls upon the French to succour the French ; 
concluding with " the question is now no more to 
recover the conquests we have made." 

In this extremity the tottering Emperor was de- 
serted by almost his last ally ; Denmark entered 
into treaties of peace and alliance with Sweden and 
England, and engaged to furnish to the allies 10,000 
men, England paying willingly a subsidy of 400,000^. 
for the purpose of opening new markets to her ships 
and manufactures. England had before entered 
into a treaty with Sweden to give her Norway, and 
in case Denmark would not consent England was to 
assist in the conquest. To this arrangement Den- 
mark now acceded by force ; but the Norwegians 
refuse to be transferred, and declare themselves 
independent. 

Marshal Davoust continued to hold Hamburgh, 
and indicated a determination to defend the place 
to the last extremity. He had ordered the inhabit- 
ants to lay in a stock of provisions for six months. 
The period allowed to procure this supply having 
expired, he issued an order directing all those Avho 
had neglected fulfilling the injunction to quit the 
city, and 5000 inhabitants were in consequence ex- 
pelled. 

In the mean time the armies of the allies moved 
on to their destined point without any obstacle of 
consequence, until Buonaparte in person put him- 
self in opposition to the veteran Prussian General 
Blucher at the battle of La Rothiere. The French 
emperor, having appointed the empress Maria Lou- 
isa again regent, left Paris on the morning of the 
25th of January, 1814, to take the command of the 
armies of France. 

Field Marshal Blucher having been compliment- 
ed with the command of the Austrian corps of Count 
Guilay and the Prince Royal of Wirtemberg, in 
addition to the Russian and Prussian armies before 
under his orders, found himself opposed in his ad» 



364 

vances towards Paris by an army commanded by 
the Emperor in person. The allied forces were at 
least 80,000 at this point, the French perhaps nearr 
ly equal in nnmber. 

Marshal Blucher, after a reconnoisance made on 
the morning of the 1st of February, gave the fol- 
lowing directions for an attack. 

The corps of General Baron Saclien was order- 
ed to move forward in two columns from Trannes, 
one taking the direction of Brienne by the road of 
Dienville, and the second on the village of La Ro- 
thiere. The corps of General Count Guilay form- 
ed the reserve of the first column, and that of Gen- 
eral Alsufieff the second. The Russian guards 
were ordered to form a reserve for the whole, on 
the heights between Trannes and Eclance. 

The Prince Royal of Wirtemberg w as ordered 
to march from Eclance upon Chaumenil, leaving a 
small wood in front of the right of the position of 
the allies occupied by the French, on his left, with 
a view of turning it and opening a communication 
with General Count Wrede, who was advancing 
upon Chaumenil from Doulevent* 

The attack commenced precisely at 12 o'clock. 
The French were in position at Deinville and La 
Rothiere, having their left at the small village of 
La Gibrie. Their cavalry, as well as that of the 
allies, was drawn out in the plain between the two 
positions. The French infantry disposed in large 
masses on the flanks of, and within the villages, 
which were lined with artillerj^ 

Skirmishing and cannonading in the plain were 
the preludes to the attack, which was made with ir- 
resistible impetuosity by the Prince Royal of Wir- 
temberg, who drove the French from the village, 
but had scarcely occupied it when in their turn they 
attacked, beat, and expelled him. A brigade of 
grenadiers were ordered to his support ; he again 
attacked, and after a long and sanguinary contest 
remained master of the wood and the village. Du- 



365 

ring these operations, the result of which remained 
doubtful for three hours, the French emperor me^ 
naced the flank position of the allies, but the veie- 
ran Blucher was not to be turned from steadily pur- 
suing the combinations on which the result of the 
day depended. The efiect of the combination of 
General Wrede's movement was accurately fore- 
seen, and before the village of La Gibrie was in 
the Prince Royal of Wirtemberg's possession eve- 
ry requisite order was given for the execution of 
movements depending upon that event and the ap- 
proach of Wrede. 

Buonaparte having moved a corps to his left. 
General Baron Sachen drew all his force to the at- 
tack of La Rothiere, which formed the key of the 
French position. 

General Count Guilay attacked the town of Dien- 
ville, but was repeatedly repulsed ; the conflict 
continued through the whole day with various suc- 
cess, but with nearly equal carnage. Night inter-' 
rupted, but did not terminate the struggle, and it 
was nearly midnight before the French abandoned 
this post, and then only in consequence of the gen- 
eral movement of the army. i 

The most bloody and obstinate resistance, how- 
ever, was made to the superior force of veteran 
troops, by the French, who were posted at La Ro- 
thiere. Baron Sachen carried the place by an ir- 
resistible attack, but was in his turn expelled from 
part of the village, and the artillery and musketry 
of the French was directed from the church and 
adjoining houses, while the Russians kept up an 
equally destructive fire from others. Buonaparte 
in person led on an attack at the head of his young 
guards, and had a horse shot under him. Here too 
the fight continued longer than the day, but about 
10 o'clock the village was abandoned to the Rus- 
sians. 

The French retreated about midnight in two col- 
umns upon Lesmont, Lessicourt, and Ronay, On 



366 

the right of the village of La Rothiere, Gen. Sa- 
cben took twenty pieces of cannon and some hun- 
dreds of prisoners. The Prince Royal of Wirtem- 
berg advanced upon Chaumenil, and formed his 
junction with General Count Wrede. The former 
took six pieces of cannon, the latter seventeen. 
The loss in killed and wounded was very great. 

Immediately after the battle commenced the em- 
peror of Russia and king of Prussia, with Field 
Marshal Prince Schwartzenberg, came upon the 
field. Field Marshal Blucher immediately after- 
wards proceeded to the front to carry into effect 
the dispositions he had made. He was among the 
foremost in the attack of the village of La Rothiere 
when on the other part his great adversary led the 
attac^., This battle is called by the allies, the bat- 
tle of La Rothiere, by the French, of Brienne. 

The French columns began to retire about mid- 
night, but they still occupied the position of Bri- 
enne at day light on the 2d of February ; on which 
day General Guilay moved with his corps along the 
Aube upon the right of the French army, the Prince 
Royal of Wirtemberg marched upon Brienne, 
General Wrede advanced upon the right of the 
Prince Royal. The French continued to retire 
upon Lesmont, Lessicourt, and llonay. Several 
minor actions took place during the day. 

Prince Schwartzenberg received a sword from 
the Emperor Alexander, in testimony of his admi- 
ration of his skill and talents in bringing his army 
without loss from the frontiers of Switzerland, tra- 
versing all the defences on this side of France, and 
forming a junction with Marshal Blucher in time 
to gain so distinguished a victory, nor was the high 
merits of the veteran field m.arshal, so often oppo- 
sed in person to Buonaparte, or that of the other 
generals, forgotten or unrewarded by distinguish- 
ing marks of approbation. , 

On the 5th of February an affair took place be■^ 
feveen the advance of the corps of general D'Yorck, 



367 

and the rear of that of Marshal M'Donald near La 
Chaussee, between Vitry and Chalons. M'Donald 
continued to retire upon Chalons. Three cannon 
and some hundreds of prisoners were taken by the 
allies who followed upon the road to Chalor^, and 
on the French entering that town, immediately 
commenced a bombardment. Marshal M'Donald 
entered into a capitulation to save the town, by 
which he agreed to evacuate the place on the 6tb, 
which was accordingly done, the French retiring to 
the left bank of the Marne. 

Troyes was taken possession of by the allies on 
the 7th of February. The Prince Royal of Wir- 
temberg had on the day preceding turned the 
French position near Ravigni ; they abandoned 
Troyes in the evening, and the prince entered it 
next morning. 

Thus, while Prince Schwartzenberg's army, 
which had separated from Blucher after his victory 
of La Rothiere, was advancing upon Paris by the 
Seine, Blucher drew by forced marches towards 
the Marne, with the design of approaching Paris in 
the direction of that river. 

This separation was not only judicious but ne- 
cessary, from the facility it gave of gaining supplies; 
however, it appears that the angle of these two 
lines of operation was too contracted. Buonaparte, 
who retreated towards Paris, was between the two 
lines of march, and in advance, and with the same 
troops might operate upon both at short intervals, 
and could on occasion cut oif all communication 
between the two armies. 

The army of field Marshal Blucher on the lOtb 
of February occupied a very extended position, 
its head under general Baron Saehen was at La 
Ferte sous Jouarre ; General D'Yorck was at 
Chateau Thierry ; an intermediate division under 
General AlsufiefFwas at Champaubert, and Blucher 
himself, with Langeron's corps, at Vertus. 

Buonaparte saw and seized the opportunity given 



36g 

him by the extension of Blucher's army, broke up 
from Nogent on the 9th of February, and on the 
10th attacked the Russian division under Alsufieff 
at Champaubert, which after a valiant resistance, 
was killed, wounded or taken prisoners, including 
their general; not more than 1600 men escaping, 
who joined the division under the immediate care 
of Blucher. On the 11th of February Marshal 
Blucher's head quarters were at Bergeres, and on 
that day Generals D'Yorck and Sachen, in conse- 
quence of the successful attempt which Buonaparte 
had made to break the line turned about, and after 
forming a junction, marched on Montmirail. Here 
a severe action ensued^ The generals of the allies 
withstood the attacks of the French emperor with 
great firmness, and held their position through the 
day, though with immense loss» The hottest part 
of the action was at the village of Marchias, which 
Was repeatedly taken and retaken. Buonaparte suc- 
ceeded in cutting off the allies from the main divis- 
ion of Blucher's army, and they retreated in the 
night upon Chateau Thierry, with the loss of four 
cannon. At Chateau Thierry, Generals Sachen and 
D'Yorck passed the Marne on the 12th, destroyed 
the bridge and by circuitous routes retreated to- 
wards Chalons. On the 13th Marshal Mortier, hav- 
ing repaired the bridge, crossed the Marne in pur- 
suit of Sachen and D'Yorck, and the same day 
Buonaparte arrived at Chateau Thierry, with intent 
to follow in the same direction, but be was the same 
evening recalled by new events to Montmirail. 

Field Marshal Blucher, with the two corps of 
Kliest and Langeron, had broken up from Yertus 
on the 13th to attack the corps of Marmont, which 
Buonaparte had left at Etoges as a corps of ob- 
servation upon the Prussian veteran. Blucher ad- 
vanced his head quarters to Champaubert. Mar- 
mont had a small corps of from 9 to 10,000, and 
was obliged to retreat, fighting, to the neighbour- 
hood of Montmirail, where he was joined by Buo- 



369 

iiaparte, wlio bad made a forced march with the 
whole of his guards and a large body of cavahy. 
A very severe action now took place. Marshal Blu- 
cher being inferior in numbers, particularly in caval- 
ry, formed his infantry into squares, and commenced 
a retreat. The French made repeated and desperate 
charges with their cavalry upon these squares of in-, 
fantry, v;hich, although sustaining great loss, retir- 
ed with that admirable firmness which characterizes 
the German troops. After a very severe and une^ 
qual contest, carried on during a retreat of nearly 
four leagues, the Prussian marshal observed a large 
body of cavalry posted on the ChaUssee in his rear 
near Etoges. He resolved to force his way through 
this obstacle, and by opening a heavy fire of artil-- 
lery and musketry upon this cavalry, posted in a 
solid mass on the Chaussee, he succeeded in forcing 
them to retire. Upon reaching Etoges, towards 
night, the French made a new attack upon the allies 
with a body of their infantry, which Buonaparte 
liad pushed through by-roads upon the flank and 
rear of his retreating adversary. Through this im- 
pediment the Prussians with renewed slaughter 
made their way. In this manner Field Pdarshal 
Blucher regained his former position near Yertus, 
with an acknowledged loss of 3,500 men. 

Blucher continued his retreat to Chalons, where, 
on the 16th, he was joined by the corps of Sachen 
and D*Yorck, and here the Silesian army which 
had sustained an acknowledged loss of 13,000 men, 
w^as forthwith put under re-organization. 

It is not likely that Buonaparte would have left 
his veteran adversary undisturbed at Chalons, to 
recruit his strength and prepare again for offensive 
operations, but that his presence was called for to 
oppose the progress of Prince Schwartzenberg 
with the main army of the allies. The French 
emperor was under the necessity of facing both 
armies of the allies with the same troops, and had 
no sooner beaten back all the corps of Blucher 

47 



.270 

tlian he Was recalled to fight the divisions of 
Schwartzenberg which threatened Paris. 

The corps which Buonaparte had left on the 
Seine, under Victor and Oudinot, to observe 
Schwartzenberg's movements, were too weak to act 
with any effect even on the defensive. The allies 
imder Prince Schwartzenberg moved from Troyes 
on the 10th. Nogent and Sens were taken by 
storm, and the French forces retired from the left 
to the right bank of the Seine, after destroying the 
bridges. Count Wittgenstein advanced towards 
lont-sur-Seine, General Wrede towards Bray, and 
having replaced the bridges, followed in pursuit. 
Wrede advanced upon Provins. The corps of the 
allies under the prince of W^irtemberg, Bianchi, 
and Guilary, made good their passage against an in- 
effeetual resistance, and on the 16th of February 
the head-quarters of Prince Schwartzenberg were 
advanced to Bray, and the next day Platofi' entered 
Fontainbleau. The. same day the advance of the 
grand army was within 40 miles of Paris, at Nan- 
gi's. 

But here, too, the activity and valour of the 
French emperor and his troops changed the aspect 
of aflairs. On the 1 71h Buonaparte had placed him- 
self in a situation to commence offensive operations 
upon the grand allied army, and on the 18th he at- 
tacked Count Wittgenstein's corps at Nangis, and 
beat it back with a great loss of men and artillery. 
Prince Schwartzenberg was obliged to retrace his 
steps, and recross the Seine. The French pursued 
with repeated attacks upon his rear. 

On the 19th Buonaparte attacked the corps of the 
prince royal of Wirteinberg, posted on Blontereau, 
and occupying the bridge at that place. The allies 
contended against the fury of repeated assaults 
until late in the day, when the French succeeded 
in driving them from their positions, and occupying 
the bridge. 

On the 21st the French head quarters were again 



371 

atNogent; and on the 23d Buonaparte appeared 
before Troyes. To seciiie the town from destruc- 
tion, an agreement was entered into, by which the 
allies were ])ermitted to leave the place without 
molestation, and on the 24th the French emperor 
entered. 

Meanwhile Marshal Blucher, after resting his 
army a few days and collecting every reinforce- 
ment within reach, had set out to form a junctioQ 
with the grand army under prince Schwartzenberg. 
On the 21st of February, he had scarcely arrived 
at Mery upon the Seine, and relieved Wittgen- 
stein's corps, when the town was attacked by tw^o 
corps from the opposite side, witJiout any further 
result than burningthe tow^n. Blucher maintained 
his position. This movement of Marshal Blucher 
facilitated the retrograde movements of Prince 
Schwartzenberg, and both armies now retired. 

Marshal Blucher broke up from Mery on the 
23d of February, crossed the Aube the next day 
near Auglure, and marched across the country to- 
wards La Ferte Gaucher. This movement appears 
to have been with a view of being reinforced by 
the corps of Bulow, Woronzow, and Wiiazingerode, 
which were advancing from the north, the latter 
having already taken Soisj^ons by assault, and made 
prisoners its garrison of 2000 men. By effecting 
a junction with these corps, Blucher would have 
command of a most imposing army, and might 
change front and operate from the northward againsl 
Paris, placing himself in such a relative situation to 
Schwartzenberg, that Buonaparte should no longer 
xDperate with the same forces upon both. 

Thus the first attempt of the allies failed to gain 
possession of the capital of the French empire. It 
has been seen that on the lllh of February, the 
army of Silesia under Blucher had reached Ferte 
sous Jouarre, only 45 miles from Paris ; on the 1 6th, 
it had retreated 78 miles, to Chalons, collecting its 
Scattered divisions 123 miles from the French capi- 



372 

tal. On the 17th the grand army under Schwart- 
zenberg occupied Fontainbleau and Nangis, 45 
miles from Paris; on Ihe 19th it had fallen back 75 
miles to Troyes, or 1 1 1 from Ihe metropolis. 

Great was the exultation of the French emperor 
at these successes, which were magnified beyond 
all bounds to inspire the people with confidence. 
The armies of the allies were represented as not 
merely repulsed, but dispersed, broken, annihilated. 
It was soon, however, seen that these annihilated 
armies were not only in being, but in greater force, 
advancing to new conflicts, to be terminated by a 
glorious peace. 

When Marshal Blucher marched upon La Ferte 
Gaucher, Marshal Marmont retired with his corps to 
La Ferte Jouarre, on the Marne, where he was join* 
ed by the corps of Mortier, who had been posted at 
Chateau Thiery to observe Winzingerode. By a 
skilful demonstration upon Meaux, which menaced 
Marmont's communication with Paris, Blucher com- 
pelled him to evacuate La Ferte sous Jouarre, and 
leave open a passage for the allies, which was ef- 
fected without opposition by crossing the Marne 
on the 28th of February. Meanwhile Buonaparte, 
having intelligence of the movement of Blucher, 
broke up from Troyes on the 27th of February, 
and leaving an inefficient force to watch Prince 
Schwartzenberg, marched to oppose the army of 
Silesia. On the 1st of march, Buonaparte arrived 
upon the Marne, but Blucher was advancing upon 
Soissons. This place, which had been several times 
taken and retaken, was now in the possession of 
the allies, and served as the point of concentration 
for ail the troops destined to act under Blucher. 
On the 3d of March the field marshal was joined by 
the corps of Winzingerode, Woronzow, and Bulow, 
and his army extended from Soissons along the 
Aisne as far hs Craone. 

On the 4th Buonaparte arrived on the Aisne, and 
next day attempted to force a passage at SoissonSo 



373 

An obstinate contest took place, but he was baffled 
with loss. He then defiled the principal part of 
his army to the right, and on the 6th succeeded in 
crossing the river higher up, at Bery le Bee. On 
the 7th he attacked the left wing of Blucher's army 
at Craone. Here was fought a bloody battle. The 
left wing of the allies commanded by Winzinge- 
rode, where the principal attack was made, sulFered 
an immense loss, and Blucher once more retreated 
before Buonaparte with a loss of 10,000 men, put 
hors de combat. 

After the battle of Craone the veteran marshal 
took another and a stronger position in a very 
commanding situation, immediately in frorst of 
Laon. On the 9th Buonaparte appeared in front of 
Blucher's position, and with about 80,000 men 
made a general and murderous attack, which lasted 
during that and the next day. During this tre- 
mendous contest, which terminated in the retreat 
of the French, the right and centre of the allies 
could do no more than maintain themselves in their 
strong position ; but in the left wing, where the 
corps of D'Yorck and Sachen fought, the French 
assailants were finally discomfited with great loss, 
leaving 6000 prisoners and 48 pieces of artillery 
with the allies. 

Though repulsed with this loss, Buonaparte left 
his adversary unable or unwilling to pursue him, 
and immediately moved upon Rheims, where on 
the 12th the allies under GeneralSt. Priest had 
taken a position. Buonaparte attacked him on the 
13th with the advance of his army, consisting of ar- 
tillery and cavalry. The Russian artillery and in- 
fantry maintained the conflict for some hours. St. 
Pirest was struck from his horse by a cannon ball, 
and carried off the field. The Russian cavalry 
were borne down by numbers and cut to pieces. 
The allies at length fled precipitately through 
Rheims, pressed upon by an overwhelming force 



374 

of cavalry, and lost, beside killed and wounde^d, 
5000 prisoners. 

During the removal of the main French army 
and emperor from the Seine, Prince Scbwartzen- 
berg, who was undoubtedly obstructed by a very 
inferior force, moved forward to re-occupy the 
ground he had lost, but gained no advantages of a 
decided or important nature. On the 4(h his head 
quarters were at Troyes, at which place he con- 
tinued until the 13tb. "On the 15th of March, in 
consequence of Buonaparte's retreat from before 
Blucher at Laon, Schwartzenbergr moved to 
Pont sur Seine and assumed an aspect of offence. 
Several corps were put in motion, but the news 
of the defeat of St Priest at Rheims checked all 
these movements. On the 16th the head quarters 
of prince Schwartzenberg were at Arcis, and Buo- 
naparte advancing from Rheims upon Fere Cham- 
penoisse. The movements of the commanders of 
the allies were now directed towards forming a 
junction, and those of Buonaparte to obstruct that 
object. Frequent changes of position, with actionis 
between small corps of the contending armies, took 
place. On the 19th we find Buonaparte in posses- 
sion of Arcis, and the next day the allies concen- 
trated all the corps of the main army before Arcis, 
and offered battle, but about one o'clock the French 
army were perceived filing off on the other side of 
the Aube, and their columns taking the direction of 
Vitry. Their rearguard, in Arcis, was attacked 
by the Prince of Wirtemberg, but they valiantly 
defended themselves, and covered the movement of 
the army. 

Marshal Bkicher, being joined by the remains of 
the corps of St. Priest, moved upon Rheims, which 
bis advance entered as the rear of the French re- 
treated. The army of Silesia moved forward to 
their junction with the grand army. 

In the evening of the 21st of March, the whole 
of the French army was in march for Vitry. That 



375 

night the French emperor remained at Sommessiis ; 
on the following clay the advance of his army ar- 
rived at Vitry, and summoned the place to sur- 
render. A Prussian colonel, with 4000 men, held 
it for the allies and refused to surrender, which 
obliged the French commander to cross the Marne 
by bridges which he constructed near Frignicourt. 
Buonaparte here passed his whole army on the 23d 
and 24lh of March, and immediately took the di- 
rection of St. Dezier. Marshals Ney and M'Don- 
ald were in front of the allies, filing to join the 
emperor at St. Dezier. 

Buonaparte might now have had one of these 
three objects in view : either by movements round 
the right of the allies to force them back ; or, if 
that failed, to operate upon their communications, 
and even proceed to form a junction with marshal 
Augerau ; or, lastly, by moving to his fortresses of 
Metz, ifec. prolong the war by resisting on a new 
line, while he placed the allies in the centre of 
France, having taken the best precautions in his 
power for the safety of his capital. 

It is said that the allies knew this last to be his 
plan by means of an intercepted letter, and that 
Prince Schwartzenberg regulated his movements 
accordingly. The bold resolution was taken of 
forming the junction of the two armies to the west- 
ward, thus placing themselves between the French 
army and Paris, and proceeding wath a united force 
of at least 200,000 men to the capital of the French 
empire. 

In order the better to mask this movement, the 
march of the allied army was made from Pougey, 
Lesmont, and Arcis on Vitry ; the emperor of 
Russia, by two extraordinary marches of 18 and 12 
leagues, established his head quarters, with those of 
the marshal prince Schwartzenberg, at Yitry on 
the 24th of March. 

On the 25th the combined armies marched in 
three columns to Fere Champenoisse. All the 



376 

cavalry of the army formed tbe advance, arid were 
to push forward to Sezanne. Marshal Blucher had 
arrived at Chalons, and his cavahy, under Winzin- 
gerode and Czernichofr, had entered Vitry on the 
23d, and had been immediately despatched to fol- 
low up Buonaparte's march to St. Dezier and threat- 
en his rear. Winzingerode's infantry had remain- 
ed with Blucher at Chalons, together with Wo- 
Tonzoff and Sachen's corps. Bulow had marched 
to attack Soissons; and Generals D'Yorck and 
Kleist had moved on the line of Montmirail. It 
is pretty obvious, from these movements, that if 
Buonaparte had not crossed the Aube, and, passing 
between the armies of Blucher and Schwartzen- 
berg, thrown them between himself and Paris, 
he would have found himself in a similar situation 
to that which proved so fatal to him at Leipsic. 

It appears that the corps of Marshals Marmont 
and Mortier had been ordered by Buonaparte to 
join him, previous to his adopting his late plan ; or 
perhaps, were, without instructions, retiring from 
before Marshal Blucher, and, ignorant of their em- 
peror's plans, were moving down towards Vitry to 
join him. Certain it is that Marmont's advance 
was within a very short distance of Vitry on the 
night of the 24th, without any suspicion that tbe 
place was in the hands of the allies. 

On the morning of the 25th of March the ad- 
vanced guard of the Prince Royal of Wirtemberg 
fell in with the advance of Marmont soon after he 
had commenced his march. The French, perceiv- 
ing a great force advancing upon then), retired. 
The cavahy pursued, and the Russian guards 
charged the French cuirassiers, and afterwards the 
infantry, taking iOOO prisoners, 10 cannon with 
caissons, waggons, (&c. 

Upon the arrival of Prince Schwartzenberg at 
Fere Champenoisse, a large body of French were 
observed marching directly upon head quarters. 
This. -proved to be a detached column of 500O 



37^ 

hien under General Ames, which had been making 
its way under the protection of Marmont's corps 
from the neighbourhood of Montmirail to join 
the emperor's grand army* This corps had in charge 
an immense convoy with 100,000 rations of bread 
and ammunition. The cavalry of Marshal Blucher 
had first discovered this corps, and had driven it up- 
on Fere Champenoisse, as the cavalry of the grand 
army was advancing. Some charges of cavalry had 
been made upon this corps, principally composed 
of young troops and national guards ; they were 
formed in squares, and defended themselves with 
the skill and firmness of veterans. When they 
Were completely surrounded by the cavalry of both 
armies, some officers were sent to demand their sur- 
render, but they refused, and seemed determined to 
cut their way through their enemies, marching on 
and firing without cessation. A battery of Russian 
artillery was opened upon them, which broke down 
their ranks with terrible slaughter ; and this was 
followed by renewed charges of cavalry, which 
completed their destruction. The corps of Mar- 
mont and Mortier retreated upon Paris, and left in 
the hands of the allies on this occasion between 80 
and 90 pieces of cannon, from 6 to 7,000 prisoners, 
beside the convoy above mentioned. 

Generals D'Yorck and Kleist who had moved 
from Montmirail to La Ferte Gaucher, arrived on 
the 26th in time to augment the discomfiture of this 
portion of the French army. General D'Yorck's 
corps made 1500 prisoners. Nothing but a con- 
tinued series of forced marches could have enabled 
Marmont and Morlier to carry off the remains of 
this army into Paris. 

On the 26th of March the grand army of the 
allies was in motion in three columns from Fere 
Champenoisse. The head quarters of the emperor 
of Russia and Prince Schwartfenberg were at 
Treffou ; the cavalry of Count Pahlen were pushed 
on beyond La Ferte Goucher, and joined Generals 

48 



D' Yorck and Kleist ; the cavalry and reserve Were 
bivouacked at La Yergere, on the right of the great 
road ; the 6tlj and 4th corps were in the centre ; 
the 5th on the left, and the 3d remained in the rear 
to cover all the baggage, artillery, parks, and train, 
and to make the march of the whole compact. 
Some partisan corps occupied the country about; 
Arcis and Troves, between the Marne and Seine 
rivers. 

Generals Winzingerode and CzernichofF, who 
continued to folJow on the rear of Buonaparte with 
10,000 cavalry and 40 pieces of cannon, found that 
he was marching by Brienne to Bar sur Aube and 
Troyes, thus hastening back to the capital with the 
utmost precipitation. " 

On the 28th and 29th of March the united armies 
of Prince Schwartzenberg and Marshal Blucher 
passed the Marne at Triport and Meaux. The 
French opposed but a feeble resistance to the pas- 
sage of the river. About 10,000 of the national 
guard endeavoured to make a stand before a part 
of the army of Silesia between La Ferte Jouarre 
and Meaux, but General Home, placing himself at 
the head of some squadrons, pierced the French 
infantry and took their commander prisoner. Ori 
the evening of the 28th General D'Yorek was se- 
verely engaged near Claye ; he however, succeed- 
ed, after some obstinate fighting, in dislodging the 
French troops from the woods about that place. 

On the 29th the whole army (with the excep- 
tion of the corps of Wrede and Sachen, which were 
left in position at Meaux) advanced upon Paris, 
Continual skirmishing took place, but the French 
retired, giving up Pantin, on their right, and the 
ground in front of Montmartre on their left. 

Previous to the junction of Marshals Marmont 
and Mortier's corps with the garrison of Paris, that 
capital had only for its defence a part of General 
Gerard's corps, with about 8000 regular troops, and 
the national guards, amounting to about 30,000 



379 

men, under General Kulin. .Tosepb Buonaparte, 
with this inadequate force, had charge of the defence 
of the capital of France. Marmont and Mortier 
rendered him every assistance in their power. 

On the 30th of March the French occupied with 
their right the heights of Fontenoy, Romainviilej 
and Belleville ; their left was on Montmartre, and 
they had several redoubts in the centre, on the canal 
de rOurque, and on the whole line a train of ar- 
tillery of above one hundred and fifty pieces. This 
position was strong from the intersected nature of 
the ground on its right. The heights of Montmar- 
tre commanded the plain in the rear of the canal 
del'Ourque, and added strength to the French posi^ 
tion ; but it is easily seen, that the force of the de- 
fenders was by no means adequate to resist an army 
of 200,000 Russians, Austrians, and Prussians, flush- 
ed with victory, inured to discipline, and directed by 
generals equal, at least, to the marshals of France. 

In order to attack the French positions^, the Sile- 
*ian army was directed upon Montmartre, St. Denis, 
and the villages of La Yalette and Pantin ; while 
the grand army attacked the right of the French, on 
the heigbtsof Fontenoy, Romainville and Belleville. 
The 6th corps, under ReifFsky, moved from Bon- 
dy, in three columns of attack, supported by the 
guards and the reserves. Leaving the great route of 
Meaux, they attacked the heights of Romainville 
and Belleville, which, as w^ell as Montmartre, are 
very commanding, the ground between being cover- 
ed with villages and country seats. These heights 
command Paris, and the country around. 

Prince Eugene of Wirtemberg, with his division 
of the 6th corps, commenced the attack, and en- 
dured for a long time a most galling fire of artille- 
ry, but being supported by the reserves of grena- 
diers, he carried the heights of Romainville, and 
the French retreated to those of Belleville. The 
Prince Royal of Wirtemberg supported this attack 
hy a simultaneous movement, upon the heights of 



380 

Rosney and Cbarenton. The 3d corps of the army 
was placed in echellon, near Nuilly, in reserve, as 
well as the cavalry. 

The attack of the Silesian army was delayed by 
some accident and did not commence so soon as 
that of Prince Schvvartzenberaj. But the columns 
of Blucher were soon seen debouching under Gen- 
erals D'Yorck and Kliest, and attacking the French 
positions at Auberville and Saare« At Pantin 
the French made a gallant resistance to the over- 
whelming numbers of their enemies, but the place 
was carried by the allies at the point of the bay- 
onet. 

In the centre a strong redoubt and battery kept 
General D'Yorck in check for a long time, but the 
right flank of the French having been gained by 
the successful attack upon Romainville, they were 
obliged to retire from this position. 

The French commanders, seeing the unavailing 
resistance which their brave troops were making 
to superior numbers, demanded a cessation of hos- 
tilities, offering to give up all the ground without 
the barriers of Paris, until further arrangements 
could be made. 

The chiefs of the allies, guided by that wisdom 
which has so eminently distinguished their councils, 
and so conspicuously led them to victory, imme- 
diately acceded to the proposition. Count Par, 
aid-de-camp to the emperor of Russia, and Colonel 
Orloff, aide-de-camp to Prince Schwarizenberg, 
were sent to arrange the cessation of hostilities. 
At 4 o'clock in the afternoon the battle had. ceased, 
and Count Nesselrode, his imperial majesty's min- 
ister, entered Paris. 

It is sometimes useful, and always agreeable, to 
follow the thought which so often suggests itself, " If 
such an event had not happened, what would have 
been the consequence ?" for although the destined 
chain of causes and effects is undeviating and un- 
changeable, we can imagine a link removed, and 



381 

replace it by anolher, Avhose consequences inevita- 
bly lead to a result widely difTerent from Ihe reali- 
ty. Thus, if Buonaparte had, instead of throwing 
himself in the rear of the allies, kept himfelf be- 
tween them and Paris, we must imagine from this 
day's conflict, in which the French had so slender 
a force to oppose to the immense host of their as- 
sailants, that all the army of Buonaparte, w^iththe 
unbroken corps of Marmont and Pvlortier, w^ould 
have given a fearful, perhaps a fatal check to the 
progress of the allied sovereigns. But happily for 
mankind, Napoleon rushed blindly in more than 
one instance, to his destruction ; and the moment 
had now arrived when empire and power were to 
fall from him, and a new^ system of things commence 
under the guidance of those councils which had 
overthrown him. The day after the battle of Paris, 
the allied princes entered that capital, and their 
entry may be considered as the signal of the com- 
plete downfal of Napoleon Buonaparte ; perhaps 
by previous agreement with the leaders of the 
French people. 

Before we enter upon the detail of the arrange- 
ments by which peace was restored to Europe, we 
will look back to the events which were passing in 
the north, in Italy, and in the south of France, du- 
ring the march of the allies to Paris. 

We have seen that the crown prince of Sweden, 
in November, entered Hanover, and pushed foi- 
w^ard his troops into Holland. In both these coun- 
tries this prince was deservedly popular. His great 
talents and consummate prudence, which had been 
so eminently useful in the councils of the allies du- 
ring the progress of the war, were now usefully 
exerted in the north ; while Russia, Austria, and 
Prussia attracted the gaze of the world on a more 
splendid scene of action. In February he was si ill 
in Hanover, and addressed a proclamation to his 
countrymen, the French, in which he declares that 
the intention of the allies is not to divide Franca, 



382 

but to secure tbeir own independence ; be accuses 
Buonaparte of being the author of all the evils 
which Frenchmen suffer, but somewhat ludicrously 
reproaches them with serving a man not born among 
them. On the 12th of February, when crossing 
the Rhine and entering with his Swedes the territo- 
ry of his native country, he again addressed his 
French countrymen ; he tells them that at the com- 
mand of his king, he had taken up arms for the de- 
fence of Sweden ; that he had avenged the Swedes, 
and assisted in effecting the liberation of Germany ; 
that the object of the war, on the part of the allies, 
is to secure themselves, not to injure France, and 
that his principal happiness will consist, after ful- 
filling his duty to his adopted country, " in secur- 
ing the future happiness of his former countrymen." 

Hamburg, in possession of the French, under 
Marshal Davoust, continued to experience the 
misery resulting from the presence of a garrison of 
foreigners, who seized upon every resource, which 
the city presented, to retard that event which the 
inhabitants most wished. 

In Holland the leaders of the people, not content 
with the restoration of the ancient constitution, and 
the hereditary stadtholdership in the house of Or- 
ange, changed the character of the government to 
that of a limited monarchy. On this occasion the 
prince of Orange issued an address, on the 2d of 
December, 1813, in which he disavowed all inclina- 
tion to assume any other title than that of stadt- 
holder, but submitted his will, like a dutiful soye^ 
reign to the w411 of his subjects. The sovereign 
prince issued a decree, annulling all the duties and 
restrictions established by the French government. 
The work of rectification and re-establishment went 
on happily; and on the 3d of Blarch, 1814, Wil- 
liam of Orange and Nassau, Sovereign Prince of 
the United Netherlands, issued a proclamation, in 
which he says, that having been called to the sove- 
reignty by the people, he "has declared that be un- 



383 

tfertooli the same, only under the guaranty of a 
constitution, which should secure the freedom of the 
people against all abuses : that he had considered it 
his duty to summon together " men of considera- 
tion," and to charge them with the task of establish- 
ing a fundamental code corresponding to the habits, 
wishes, and necessities of the people ; that this had 
been performed and submitted to him ; that he ap- 
proves of it, but as it concerns the whole of the peo- 
ple, the people must be consulted thereon ; that the 
people must receive the strongest assurance that 
their interests are attended to by the constitution, 
that religious freedom shall be secured, that educa- 
tion shall be attended to, that personal freedom 
shall be no longer an empty name, that the admin-- 
istration of justice shall be impartial, that com- 
merce, agriculture, and manufactures, shall not be 
obstructed, that no restraint be imposed on the do- 
mestic economy of the people, that by the co-ope- 
ration of the two principal branches of the govern- 
ment, the general laws shall be founded on the true 
interests of the state, that " the finances, and the 
arming of the people, the main pillars of the body 
politic, be placed in that central point upon which 
the greatest and most invaluable privilege of a free 
people — their independence — may be firmly fixed." 
After taking a glance at the miseries the country 
has suffered, he calls upon the people to support 
him in his efforts to re-establish the country, and 
states, that in order to be enabled to judge whether 
the constitutional code, thus framed, be a means of 
obtaining the end wished, he purposes to submit it, 
for maturer consideration, to an assembly of the 
best qualified persons ; he has, therefore, appointed 
a special commission, to choose, out of a list given 
in to him, 600 persons, in due proportion to the 
population of the existing departments, who, when 
confirmed by the people (as after directed) shall 
meet on the *28th of March, 1814, at Amsterdam, 
and determine this weighty business," The prinpe 



384 

goes on to say, that a list of the persons chosen for 
each department shall be made public ; that any 
inhabitant, being a house-keeper, may, by signing 
his name in a register which shall lay open for eight 
days in each canton, disapprove of any person ot 
persons whom he may deem unqualified ; and that^ 
when it shall appear to him, from summing up the 
registers, that the majority are satisfied with the 
persons thus submitted to their election, he shall 
consider them as the representatives of the whole 
Dutch people, call them together, appear in the 
midst of them, and salute them as such ; that they 
shall, in freedom, proceed in their labour, and re* 
port by a committee their progress to him, and as 
the constitutional code is adopted, he will take the 
oath prescribed, and be installed in state. 

In the mean time, the English army which had 
been sent to the Netherlands to co-operate with the 
allies appears to have sustained a series of defeats 
and disasters. Sir T. Graham, distinguished in the 
history of the present war by the sanguinary as- 
saults of St. Sebastian, met with repulse in two 
attempts upon Antwerp early in February, but 
his defeat in an attack upon Bergen-op-Zoom, on 
the 8th of March, was singularly disgraceful to 
the English arms. This almost impregnable mas- 
ter-piece of tlie great engineer Cohorn was assault- 
ed by the orders of General Graham, and attempt- 
ed to be carried by a coup de main^ without the 
requisite breaching being made, or, as it appears^ 
any sufficient ground to justify the assault. 

The attack was made in four columns on the 
night of the 8th of March. It had been given out 
that an attempt was to be made on Fort Lillo, be- 
tween Antwerp and Bergen-op-Zoom. Bergen is 
on a rising ground, or hill, protected by a marsh 
on the southeast, and watered by the little river 
Soon, vv'hich is distributed into dykes and canals. 
On the west it is washed by a branch of the Scheldt. 
It is slated that the French commander wished to 



385 

evacuate the place and that the inhabitants were in 
favour of the assailants. 

On the southeast side, and on the north side next 
to Molen, the attack was made simultaneously, and, 
at first, with some success* Assisted by the ice, 
the English traversed the morass, scaled the em- 
palements and chevaux-de-frize, and gained posses- 
sion of part of the ramparts The garrison was ta- 
ken by surprise, and made feeble resistance to the 
first divisions of assailants, but no confusion ensu- 
ed ; the Fi-ench flew to their posts, and made their 
Usual skilful and valiant defence. Major General 
Cooke commanded the left column of the English, 
Major General Skerritt and Brigadier General 
Gore accompanied the right, which was the first 
that forced its way into the place. The two col- 
umns were to move along the rampart, so as to form 
a junction as soon as possible, clear the ramparts, 
and assist the centre column, or force the Antwerp 
gate. The left column was thrown into disorder by 
finding a difficulty in passing the ditch on the ice* 
and their attack was delayed until half past 11 
o^clock. They assaulted by escalade, but their ene- 
my was prepared for them. The French, from the 
tops of the walls, raised up the ladders with hooks, 
and dashed down the men on the frozen ditches. 
The gates were opened from within, and the great- 
er part of this column likewise gained the ramparts. 
Meanwhile General Gore and Colonel Carleton 
were killed. Major General Skerritt severely woun- 
ded, and the right column fell into disorder, and 
suffered proportionably in killed, wounded, and 
prisoners. The English guards were drawn up, 
and prepared to fire by platoons, when they were 
ordered to throw out their priming, and charge ; 
they advanced at the pas de charge^ but were mow- 
ed down by showers of balls which laid nearly the 
whole brigade prostrate. A detachment of the 
guards which had been sent to the a'jsistance of 

49 



Colonel Carleton, and to secure the Antwerp gatej- 
were totally cut off'. 

The centre column, having been forced back 
with great loss, and its commanders both killed, 
wer^ re-formed under the command of a major, and 
marched to the assistance of General Cooke. 

After a night of confusion, disaster, and slaught* 
er, the day broke, only to show the English their 
forlorn situation, and to expose them, unprotected, 
on the ramparts, to the surer aim of their enemies* 
guns. The reserve of the fourth column, the Roy- 
al Scotts, getting under a destructive cross fire, 
threw down their arms. The French commander, 
General Bizanet, took the first opportunity . which 
day light afforded to send an officer to General 
Cooke with a summons to surrender ; which he 
very wisely complied with, and the remainder of 
the English laid down their arms on the ramparts of 
Bergen-op-Zoom. 

General Bizanet drew forth the admiration of 
his enemies more by his humane attention to his 
suffering assailants than by his excellent defence. 
He entered into an agreement for a suspension of 
hostilities for three days, suffered all prisoners, not 
too severely wounded, to depart on parole, and al- 
leviated by every means in his power the miseries 
which a rash attempt had brought on the English 
troops. 

In Italy Buonaparte was deserted by another 
king of his own manufacturing ; and King Murat 
was received as a legitimate sovereign by the allied 
monarcbs of Europe. On the 17th of January, 
1814,v Murat announced th3« event to the world, in 
a curious manifesto. On the 19th his Neapolitans 
entered the papal territories ; established a pro- 
visional government at Home on the 24th, and, 
progressing northward, occupied Florence. Anoth- 
er army of Neapolitans joined the Austrians at Fa- 
rara on th^ 22d, and General Beliegarde, having 
had a^ personal interview with Murat, put his army 



387 

in motion early in February, to attack Prince Eu- 
s;ene Beaubarnois, who still adhered to Napoleon. 
With tlie Neapolitans marching on his flank and 
rear, Beauharnois was compelled to abandon his po- 
sitions on the Adige, which he Ijad successfully de- 
fended against the Austrians, and to fall back upon 
Mincio. On the 8th of February General Belle- 
garde attacked the French at Valleggio, and a very 
severe battle with great slaughter ensued, without 
any decisive result. The advantage was with Beau- 
harnois, who, nevertheless, was obliged, by the de- 
monstrations of the Neapolitans against his rear, to 
continue his retrograde raovetnents. 

About the middle of February Lord Welling- 
ton, with an army of Spanish, Portuguese, and En- 
glish, opened the campaign in the south of France 
This great general had been enabled, owing to the 
successes of Russia, to drive the French armies out 
of the Spanish and Portuguese peninsula, and to 
follow them into the French territory. On the 
27th of February was fought the battle of Orthez, 
in which Marshal Soult was defeated by the allies 
under Lord Wellington, and lost a large portion of 
his army not only by death, wounds, and captivity, 
but bv desertion. 

The army of the allies having crossed the Adour, 
below Bayonne, and invested that city, Lord Wel- 
lington pushed on a detachment of his army, under 
Sir W. Beresford, to take possession of Bordeaux. 
On the 12th of March the citizens of Bordeaux, pre- 
ceded by the mayor, came out to meet the English 
general with acclamations, and displayed the white 
cocka<ie in token of loyalty to Louis XYIII. 

Louis Antoine, duke of Angouleme, and nephew 
to the titular king of France, who had been sent to 
the south to join Wellington, and take advantage 
of the events which might favour the Bourbon dy- 
nasty, published letters patent from the titular king,' 
dated from Hartwell, England, authorizing him to 
establish the king's government in all places to 



388 

which he might be able to penetrate ; to levy 
troops, and receive the allegiance of those who 
might abandon the opposite standard ; to command 
all the military for the king; to' take from the pub- 
lic chests all necessary treasure for the royal ser- 
vice ; to appoint all officers both civil and military; 
these powers to continue in force until the arrival 
of the king, or of his brother Charles Philip (Mon- 
sieur) who had been appointed lieutenant general 
of the kingdom. 

The duke of Angouleme proceeded to Bordeaux, 
and assured the people of France that they were de- 
livered from tyrants, wars, conscriptions, and vexa- 
tious imposts ; and the whole of the department of 
La Landes declared for Louis XYIIL 

In the mean time the shattered army of Soult 
continued to retreat before Wellington, who, having 
collected his detachments, on the 18th of March, 
pushed the French with some loss to Vic Bagourey 
and Tarbes. On the 20th Soult made a show of 
giving battle at Tarbes, but on the approach of the 
allies, retreated, skirmishing. On the 24th the 
French army had reached Toulouse. 

No event of importance took place in the south 
of Frailce until after the momentous transactions 
at Paris, which decided the fate of Furope ; yet, that 
we may not turn again to the inferior parts of our 
story, we will here notice some unfortunate occur- 
rences in which the waste of human life was even 
more than usually to be regretted, as unnecessary, 
and without acccomplishing any desirable purpose. 
On the lOth of April Lord Wellington, not having' 
heard of the cessation of hostilities agreed upon at 
Paris, attacked the positions of Marshal Soult at 
Tolouse ; the French joined battle, and a contest 
succeeded, which was as sanguinary as it was use- 
less. After various attacks and repulses, the French 
were driven from their positions, and evacuated 
iToulouse, after sustaining a loss of six generals and 
^ great number pf men, killed or wounded. Op 



389 

the IStli Sir Jolin Hope, who coramanded the be- 
siegers of Bayou ne, having received intinmlion of 
the transactions at Paris, sent a flag comniiinicating 
the intelligence to the French commafider, who, 
paying no attention to this message, made a sortie 
very unexpectedly upon the English, killed and 
wounded a great number of men, with two generals, 
and among other prisoners took the English com- 
mander. Sir John Hope. 

Having taken this cursory view^ of the more dis- 
tant and less important events, we I'eturn to the 
momentous transactions which were passing at and 
near Paris. 

After the battle of the 30th of March, under the 
walls of Paris, it was agreed that the French, un- 
der the command of Joseph Buonaparte, should 
evacuate the city on the morning of the 31st, and 
the allied sovereigns take possession, with their ar- 
mies, of the capital of France. The capitulation 
consisted of eight articles, by which it was provi- 
ded, that the troops of the line should leave the city 
with all the appurtenances of their corps d^armee 
at seven o'clock in the morning j that hostilities 
should not recommence until two hours after ; that 
all arsenals, &c. &c. should be left as before the 
capitulation was proposed ; that the national guards 
should be separated from the troops of the line, 
and disarmed or disbanded at the pleasure of the 
allies ; and the city was recommended to the gene- 
rosity of the allies. 

On the 31st the emperor of Russia and king of 
Prussia, at the head of their troops, (for on such 
occasions all emperors and kings head their troops,) 
entered the city of Paris, and were received with 
acclamations. The white cockade Avas displayed 
by some of the Parisians, and the cry of " Vive 
Louis XVin." was heard and encouraged. The 
national guard in their uniforms, and armed, clear- 
ed avenues for the troops of the allies to pass, 
while the people hailed the entrance of an invading 



390 

and conquering army as a blessing, and the lower 
order of the populace amused themselves by pla- 
cing a rope round the neck of the statue of ISfapo- 
leon, shouting " a bas le tyran.'* 

The emperor of Russia went immediately to the 
hotel of Talleyrand, and in the afternoon of the 
Bame day published a declaration, stating that the 
object of the allies was to restrain the ambition of 
Buonaparte, and that as soon as France, by changing 
her government, shall give assurance of peace, the 
allies are ready to treat on terms favourable to her ; 
that they will treat no more with Napoleon Buona- 
parte or any of his family ; that they respect the 
integrity of ancient France, and because they think, 
that for the happiness of Europe France ought to 
be great and strong, they are even willing to add 
to her ancient power ; that they will recognise and 
guarantee the constitution which the French nation 
shall give itself, and invite the senate to appoint a 
provisional government, and prepare such a consti- 
tution as may be adopted by the French people. 
On the first of April the emperor of Russia nomi- 
nated General Sachen as governor of Paris, and 
the same day the provisional government was or- 
ganized, consisting of Talleyrand, Prince of Bene- 
vente, the Duke D'Alberg, General Count de 
Bournonville, Francoise de Faucourt, and the 
Abbe Montesquieu. One of their first acts was to 
order every obstacle to be removed which opposed 
the journey of the pope, the courageous head of 
the church, to his own territories; and to order that 
Prince Carlos of Spain, Ferdinand's brother, should 
be conducted with all honours to the first Spanish 
post. 

A decree for the dethronement of Buonaparte 
was brought forward in the conservative senate on 
the 2d of April, which, after revision, was on the 3d 
adopted. It declares, that in a constitutional 
monarchy the monarch exists only in virtue of the 
constitution, or social compact; that Napoleon Buo* 



391 

naparte durirrg a period of firm and prudent go- 
vernment, gave reason to expect further acts of 
wisdom and justice, but afterwards violated the 
compact which united him to the people, by levy- 
ing imposts and taxes contrary to law, and the oath 
which he had taken ; that he had adjourned the le- 
gislative body without necessity; suppressed a 
criminal report of that body, and disputed its title 
and share in the national representation ; that he 
undertook a series of wars in violation of Art. 50 
of the constitution of the 22d Frimaire, year 8, 
which purports, that declarations of war should be 
proposed, debated, decreed, and promulgated in the 
same manner as laws ; that he had unconstitution- 
ally issued decrees of death ; that he had violated 
the commercial laws ; that he had annulled the re- 
sponsibility of ministers, confounded authoritieSy 
and destroyed the independence of judicial bodies; 
that he had violated the liberty of the press ; that 
he had, in the publication, altered acts and reports 
heard by the senate ; that instead of reigning ac- 
cording to his oath, for the happiness of the people, 
he had completed the misfortunes of his country, 
by refusing to treat for peace on conditions which 
the national interests required him to accept ; that 
he had abused the means entrusted to him in men 
and money; that he had abandoned the wounded 
without dressing, assistance, or subsistence ; that he 
had ruined the towns, depopulated the country, and 
introduced famine and contagion ; that for all these 
causes the imperial government, established 28th 
Floreal, year 12, had ceased to exist, and that ta 
accomplish the wish of France, the restoration of 
peace, and a reconciliation with Europe, the senate 
declares and decrees, 1st, That Napoleon Buona- 
pare has forfeited the throne ; and the hereditary 
government established in his family is abolished. 

2d. The French people and the army are ab- 
solved from their oath of fidelity towards Napoleon 
Buonaparte. 



S§2 

3d. The present decree shall be transmitted hf 
a message to the provisional government of France* 
conveyed forthwith to all the departments and the 
armies, and immediately be proclaimed in all the 
quarters of the capifaL 

A similar resolution Avas the same day adopted 
by the legislative body. 

Prince Schwartzenberg lost no time in commu- 
nicating to the marshal duke of Ragusa the events 
whicli had taken place, giving him an invitation, as 
from the provisional government, to join the cause 
of the country with the troops under his command. 
The French marshal accepted the invitation, say- 
ing, that the army and people having been absolv- 
ed from their oath of allegiance, by the decree of 
the senate, he, to prevent civil war w^ill quit Na- 
poleon on the following conditions : That all 
French troops, quitting the banners of Napoleon, 
shall be free to retire to Normandy with their arms, 
baggage, and ammunition, and with militar}'' 
honours from the allies ; that if, in consequence of 
this movement, the person of Napoleon should fall 
into the hands of the allies, his life should be gua«\ 
rantied to him, and his liberty in a circumscribed 
space of territory. 

These terms were acceded to by the allies, and 
the army of the duke of Ragusa marched through 
the allied armies to Versailles, with every demon- 
stration of respect on the part of the conquerers of 
France. 

On the 5th of April an address dated Corbeil, and 
signed General Lucotte, Avas promulgated to the 
French army, saying, that the Emperor Napoleon 
has announced that he being; considered as the only 
obstacle to the peace of Europe, he is ready to re- 
nounce the throne, or life itself, for the welfare of 
France ; that he demands the succession to the 
throne for his son and empress; that the answer of 
the "first bodies of the.state" is awaited, and that 
the allies appeared to protect the free expression 



393 

bf the wish of those bodies ; that in the mean lime 
a truce is established. 

On the same day Marshal Ney addressed a letter 
to Talleyrand, president of the provisional govern- 
ment, saying that lie (Ney) and the dukes of Ta- 
rentum, and Vicenza had repaired to Paris on the 
4th, charged to defend, before the emperor of Rus- 
sia the interest of Buonaparte's dynasty. That an 
unforeseen event put a stop to the negotiations, 
and that, foreseeing the evils of civil war, if the 
cause of the Bourbons was not promptly embraced, 
he had repaired to the emperor, and made knowii 
the wishes of the French people ; that the emperor 
had consented to " an entire and unrestricted abdi- 
cation." 

On the 6th of April appeared a declaration of 
the emperor of Russia, stating, that as continual 
applications were making to him, by individuals, 
relative to personal interests, he, " having come to» 
France to concur in the establishment of peace, and 
to promote the happiness of the country," will ex- 
ercise uo influence over the French constituted au- 
thorities relative to the execution of the laws j 
therefore, all persons are referred to those authori- 
ties. 

On the same day the provisional government pub- 
lished an address to the people, wherein, after expa- 
tiating upon the evils brought upon the country by 
Buonaparte, they declare the change in the govern- 
ment, and invite France to be happy ; and the con- 
servative senate decreed, that the French govern- 
ment is monarchical and hereditary ; that the peo- 
ple call to the throne Louis Stanislaus Xavier ; 
that the ancient nobility resume their titles, the new 
preserve their's hereditarily ; and the legion of hon^ 
our be maintained ; that the executive power is in 
the king; that the king, senate, and legislative body 
make the laws: laws may originate in the senate of 
legislative body, but tliose relative to contributio^ 

50 



3&4 

mllst originate with the latter ; the king's sanctloil 
necessary to a law ; that the senate shall consist of 
at least 150, at most 200, their dignity hereditary, 
the present senators to remain such, and the re* 
mainder of the number to be named by the king ; 
a senator must be twenty-one years of age, and all 
princes of the blood are by right senators ; that the 
deputies to the legislative body, as they were when 
last adjourned, shall continue untiJ replaced by a 
new election, to take place in 1816 ; they shall as- 
semble by right on the 1st of October of each year; 
the king rnay convoke extraordinary sessions of the 
legislative body, may adjourn it, may dissolve it, 
but in the latter case, another mu?t be formed in at 
least three months ; that no member of the senate 
or legislative body can be arrested but by authori^ 
ty from the body to which he belongs ; the trial of a 
member of either body belongs to the senate; that 
equality of taxation is a right, and taxes can only be 
imposed by free consent of the senate and legislative 
body ; that the mode of recruiting the army shall be 
fixed by law ; that the independence of the judiciary 
is guarantied, the institution of juries preserved, and 
the publicity of criminal trials; that the military 
in service or on half pay, preserve their ranks and 
emoluments ; that the person oi the king is sacred 
and inviolable ; the ministers responsible for viola- 
tions of the laws by public acts, which they must 
sign; that freedom of conscience and worship is 
guarantied ; that the liberty of the press is entire, 
with the exception of legal repression of abuses 
resulting theiefrom ; that the public debt is guaran- 
tied, and the sales of national domains irrevocably 
maintained ; that no Frenchman shall be prose- 
cuted for opinions or votes which he has given, and 
all are equally admissi'jle to civil and military em- 
ployments; that the existing laws remain in force 
till legally repealed ; that the present constitution 
shall be submiUed to the acceptance of the French 



395 

people. "Louis Stanislaus Xavicr shall be pro- 
claimed king of the French as soon as he shall have 
si2;ned and sworn, by an act slatina;, I accept the 
constitution ; I swear to observe it, and cause it to be 
observed. 

Such is the outline of the constitution, which, 
with the approbation, as it must appear, of the 
emperor of Russia and his allies, the French con- 
servative senate decreed ; and Monsieur the bro- 
ther and lieutenant of Louis, havinoj entered Paris 
on the ]3th of April, was next day visited by the 
senate and legislative body ; and they by a decree, 
committed the provisional government to him, until 
"Louis Stanislaus Xavier shall have accepted the 
constitutional charter." His royal highness as- 
sured these visiters that he had made himself ac- 
quainted with the constitutional act which recals 
his brother to the throne of France, and though he 
has uot received power to accept the constitution, 
he from his knowledge of his brother assures them, 
in his name, that he will adinit the basis of it. He 
then repeats the material points in the constitution, 
and concludes with thanks in his brother's name 
for what they had done, 

Happy w^ould it have been if virtue enough had 
been found in the rulers and people of France to 
maintain a form of government even so good as 
this. They would then have had the best govern- 
ment in Europe, and been repaid for the long series 
of war and wo which they have experienced. The 
limits of the present work will not permit to the 
writer the useful task of comparing this constitution 
with the English or other constitutions, or of point- 
ing out what he considers its excellencies or de- 
fects. 

On the 15th of April the emperor of Austria 
made his entrance into Paris, accompanied by the 
Crown Prince Bernadotte; and Monsieur receiv- 
e4 the emperors of Russia and Austria, with the 



396 

sovereigns of Prussia and Sweden, and aGcompa- 
iiied them to a review of the allied troops. 

We have seen that Buonaparte, who had in seve- 
ral negotiations at different points of time been 
driven to lower his demands, had not yet lowered 
them as rapidly as his falling fortunes demanded ; 
and had finally been obliged to abdicate the 
throne. No other conditions were granted to him 
than a pension, and the petty sovereignty of the 
little island of Elba. 

To this place of banishment he was sent under 
the escort of commissioners, in an English frigate. 
Such was the end of Buonaparte's campaign against 
Kussia. On the 20th of April, he left Fontainbleau^ 
the scene of his humiliation, and embarked on the 
28tli at St. Rapheu, near Frejus, for Elba, where 
he safely arrived, and took possession of the islan(^ 
on the 4tb of May. 

Vv e will now conclude this brief narrative of the 
most stupendous events ever witnessed, by noticing 
the fate of the constitution, decreed by the Frencl^ 
senate, and the definitive treaty of peace, which 
has fixed for a time the tranquillity and the balance 
of power of Europe. 

Louis Stanislaus Xavier, having arrived in 
France, and being received with every demonstra- 
tion of joy by the people and the military, who 
acknowledged him as the legitimate king, notwith- 
standing that he had not accepted, signed, or 
sworn to support the constitution, feeling himself 
independent of a conquered people, and only ac-^ 
countable to the victorious allies, who had rein- 
stated him, assumed, on the 2d of May, the kingly 
style, and declared that he was king of France and 
Navarre, by the grace of God, and recalled to the 
throne of his fathers by his people ; that after read- 
ing with attention the plan of a constitution propos- 
ed by the senate, he had found the basis good, but 
|h^t a great number of articles, owing to precipita- 



397 

tion in drawing them up, cannot becoine l\inr 
damental laws of the state ; that he will convoke 
the senate and legislative body, and lay before 
them, on the 10th of June, the result oUiis labours. 
He, however, gives them the following assurances?, 
that the represejitative government shall be main- 
tained, divided into a senate and a house composed 
of deputies of departments ; the taxes shall be free- 
ly imposed ; public and private liberty ensured ; 
the liberty of the press respected, with precautions 
necessary to public tranquillity ; the freedom of 
worship guarantied ; property bhall be sacred and 
inviolable ; the sales of the national domains re- 
main irrevocable ; the ministers responsible, may 
be prosecuted by one of the legislative houses, and 
tried by the other ; the judges irremovable, and the 
judicial power independent; the public debt shall 
be guarantied ; pensions, honours, military rank, 
preserved ; the legion of honour maintained, with a 
decoration determined by the king ; every French- 
man ^hall be admitted to civil and military employ-r 
pients and no individual disturbed for his former 
opinions and votes. 

On the 4th of June the king presented to tha 
French people a constitution, as he had promised 
them, at the same time declaring that all authority 
resides in the person of the king, but that he 
graciously releases to the people certain portions 
of liberty, as specified in this grant. This consti- 
tution is founded upon the above mentioned decla- 
ration of Louis, wdien he rejected that decreed by 
the senate ; but retains all essential power in his 
own hands ; the Romish religion is declared the re- 
ligion of the state, and the ministers of that and 
all other modes of Christian worship are to be paid 
from the royal treasury alone ; the king commands 
the land and sea forces, declares war, makes treaties 
of all kinds, appoints to all employments of public 
administration ; the legislative power is exercised 



398 

collectively by the king, the house of peers, and 
the house of deputies of departments, but the 
king proposes all laws ; the kinsj alone sanctions and 
promulgates all laws ; the number of Ihe house of 
peers is unlimited, and they are made by the king, 
or " the king creates nobles at will ;" the king's 
ministers may be members of either house ; the 
king appoints judges ; in fact, the power retained 
by the king must render nugatory the liberty he 
is graciously pleased to grant to his people. 

Thus we see the people of France, who had 
shaken off the end'mous abuses of a kingly gov- 
ernment, which, whether administered by a wise 
man or a fool, by an ambitious hero, an unblushing 
debauchee, or a well-meaning driveller, was almost 
equally intolerable ; and who had been forced into 
war by the interference of foreign nations in their 
internal regulations ; who had conquered every 
people of Europe to whose territory their armies 
could approach, while they themselves suffered all 
the miseries of bad experimental government in 
every form, from that of a mob to that of a despot; 
who had at last elected one man to reign over them 
under the shadow of a representative government, 
and the remains of the form of a republic, with the 
reality of a despot ; now submitted to an almost un- 
qualified monarchy, receiving a king on such terms 
as his will, and the will of their conquerors, shall 
dictate. 

We will nGV>^ take a view of such parts of the de- 
finitive treaty of peace as bear upon the great ques- 
tion of the adjustment of the balance of European 
powei". 

The limits of France are settled as they were at 
the epoch of .January, 1792, with some additions in 
drawing the line of demarkation between her and 
her neighbours ; the republic of Geneva shall form 
a part of the confederation of Switzerland, and is 
assured the use of the route by Versoi, to facilitate 



399 

commiinicalion with other parts of the confedera- 
tion ; the navigation upon the Rhine shall be free ; 
duties which may be levied by slates boundincr on 
the river to be regulated by a congress^ Holland, 
placed under the sovereignty of the house of Or- 
ange, shall receive an increase of territory, and its 
prince is prohibited from wearing a foreign crown ; 
the states of Germany shall be independent, and 
united by a federative league ; Switzerland shall 
be independent ; Italy, except the parts given to 
Austria, shall be composed of sovereign states; 
Malta shall belong to Great-Britain, who engages to 
restore to France " the colonies, fisheries, factories, 
and establishments of every kind which France pos- 
sessed in January, i 792, excepting Tobago, St. Lu- 
cia, the Isle of France and its dependencies, which 
France cedes to England ; France likewise cedes 
to Spain the part of St. Domingo which became 
hers by the peace of Basle. The king of Sw^eden 
and Norway cedes Guadaloupe to France ; Eng- 
land agrees to allow to the French all the facilities 
of the most favoured nations in their trade with 
British India ; and France agrees not to fortify or 
hold troops in the places restored to her by Eng- 
land, within the limits of the English sovereignty 
on the continent of India; the right of France to 
the fisheries remains as in 1792 ; two thirds of the 
vessels of war, armed or not armed, and the naval 
artillery and ammunition, which are within the 
bounds of the places restored by France, shall be- 
long to France, and one third to the country so re- 
stored ; from this stipulation, the vessels and arse- 
nals of Holland are excepted, " and especially the 
fleet of the Texel." There is no notice of Poland, 
no longer a nation ; Warsaw remains with Russia ; 
the states mentioned " as returning to Austria" are 
Venice and its dependencies, with Mantua and Pes- 
chiera. 



Thus it lias pleased the great rulers of Europe 
to adjust what is called the balance of power, and 
it is not to be doubled but they will watch with a 
jealous eye over the distribution they have made* 
To secure that peace to the world which is every 
good man's wish, there appears wanting some ad- 
justment of the maritime rights of nations, and a 
free commercial intercourse, leaving the seas 
equally open to, as they are equally the property 
of, all mankind. 

NeW'-York, JVovemher, 1814; 



